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Two Thousand Years 
in Eternity. 



BY 

B. BYWATERS, M.D. 



—1901- 

HUDSON-KIMBERLY PUBLISHING CO. 
KANSAS CITY. 



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THrXi'BRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

T>«o CoPtES Recsvco 

AUG. 11 1902 

CO»*V^IQHT ENTRY 

IVc'. 2 0. /cf ^/ 
CLASS ^ XXa No. 

COPY B. 



Copyright 19()I, 

By 

B. BYWATERS. M.D. 






PREFACE. 

In the latter part of the year 1882 I was taken down 
with an inflammatory disease; from which I had little hope 
of recovering, and in the '.early part of the year 1883 I lay 
some time in the Santa Eosa Hospital, at San Antonio, un- 
der the care of the estimable gentlemen. Doctors C. E. R. 
King and Geo. W. Cupples, who also looked upon my condi- 
tion as being without any favorable probabilities. And 
while thus solitarily confined with in the walls of the small 
room I occupied, believing that I should never again be per- 
mitted to look out upon the world, or mingle with kindred 
spirits dwelling in the flesh, I realized, upon examination of 
my entire intellectual being, that I was not ready to launch 
into that boundless spiritual existence, where all material 
things become as a myth, and none save the mighty arm of 
God could protect me, or alleviate my dreadful condition; 
but my heart assured me that, as I had been disobedient to 
the commands of His Spirit, I had no right to ask or expect 
any relief from that Omnipotent Being, and neither would 
I receive any assistance so long as my spirit was conscious 
if forever, and realized that I was almost face to face witli 
that God who made me for His own purposes, whom I had 
not served acceptably, and became truly and in every sense 
of the word afraid — yes, afraid of God, the only being capa- 
ble of understanding, or ministering to our necessities be- 
yond the shores of tangible things. But the most horrify- 
ing and immediate reality was that the intense physical pain 



6 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

I suffered day and nighty almost without intermission, ren- 
dered it impossible for me to compose my mind enough to 
present a petition in my behalf in a manner sufficiently in- 
telligent to satisfy the philosophic reasoning of my own 
heart, and I knew tha,t delirium was threatening, which would 
certainly seal up my eternal destiny. My most ordinary in- 
telligence revolted at ritualism, and hence I persistently re- 
fused the urgent requests of the poor, honest-hearted Sister 
of Charity (who, at stated periods, came to minister to my 
wants) to call in the priest ;. although to satisfy her heart, 
which I really desired, knowing that mine could never be, I 
did repeat after her the lifeless, formal prayer to the Virgin 
Mary which she had been taught, and rehearsed to me as she 
adjusted the heated appliances to keep up the temperature of 
my body, or tried to smooth my thorny pillow. May the 
everlasting Father shelter her in His arms, and protect her 
from all trouble and future sorrow. But oh, how worthless 
and lifeless is form and ceremony to a thinking mind ! 

There was but one thing I could do, which I unhesi- 
tatingly did, with most perfect truth and sincerity. I prom- 
ised the God of heaven that if it were possible, according to 
His will, for me to regain my health, I would strive by His 
assistance to be a better man — and left it all with Him. 

As the fear of God will cause a man to seek earnestly 
and diligently for truth, and hence is, as King Solomon said, 
"the beginning of wisdom'^; when I began to recover, I set 
about the work, and soon realized that I would have to un- 
derstand God and His re(|uirements according to the intel- 
ligence and reason of my own heart in order to be satisfied, 
and as I progressed I was informed by that Spirit of Truth 
within that it was useless and worse than folly to listen to 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 7 

the instructions of other human beings, for they were just 
as incapable of instructing me, though they be possessed of 
a most superb education, as I was of instructing others in 
their duties, and that there was no mortal man now upon 
earth possessed of authority from God to teach men their 
duty to their Creator. Being now guided by that Spirit of 
Truth in me (which I learned afterward was the Spirit of 
God), the next thing suggested to my mind was to examine 
the Scriptures, and determine their purpose. Holding 
sacred the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, and connecting 
link between God and man, though I did not then under- 
stand the manner of His operations to satisfy God, and give 
life to His creatures. But before beginning this part of the 
work, I understood that I must close up my mind against all 
human teachers, and strive to unlearn what I had been 
taught was the interpretation of the Word of God to man. I 
therefore had nothing but that Spirit of unadulterated Truth 
within me for a guide and teacher, and constantly prayed 
that I might be freed from all prejudice and thoroughly un- 
derstand its instructions, and ere I read the Scriptures 
through the first time, I understood to my perfect satisfac- 
tion that they were only to show to us that God intended His 
intelligent beings to be governed by their philosophic reason, 
constantly and unremittingly measured by that rule of Truth 
in each heart. I also understood clearly_ how that as soon 
as I was made afraid of God by the sore affliction and great 
suffering, which was one of His judgments upon individuals, 
I immediately came submissively to the Truth, and therefore 
came to God for help, and in my promise to be a better man, 
I only promised to follow the truth in my heart, which was 
to follow the Spirit of God wherever it led the way, and to 



8 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

turn a deaf ear to all humain beings, both great and small; 
and being thus guided, I arrived at my present understanding 
of the Scriptures and of God, and was thus directed to write 
what I had learned — not as a guide to man, but a suggestion 
to all intelligent people of the Christian world that to secure 
perfect rest to their spirits throughout the never-ending 
period of eternity, they must satisfy that intelligent reason 
which He has placed within their being, accepting nothing 
in the way of form and ceremony which that reason does not 
approve. Thus becoming intelligently acquainted with God, 
and His requirements, and live constantly under the uncon- 
trovertable and indubitable knowledge, that if men are con- 
demned by their own hearts, they are also in the same ratio 
condemned by the Allwise God, and vice versa. And so 
great is my confidence in the power and operation of the 
Spirit of Truth in the hearts of men that, although I use 
plain and very common language, and my \\Titing is grossly 
deficient in rhetoric, I verily believe it will convey the ideas 
intended by the God of heaven to the minds of all intelligent 
thinking men, who are in search of truth, and therefore read 
and accept a work for the ideas intended to be conveyed, 
rather than the elegance and harmony of the language with 
which those ideas are clothed. I therefore dedicate this 
work to that class of sterling men and women who fear God 
rather than man, or material organizations, and are ever 
ready to stand up boldly in defense of the Truth, and in the 
likeness and image of the Creator, calmly, but with great 
firmness, refuse to yield obedience to lifeless formalities, and 
ordinances which were but the letter-blocks to teach men in 
ages past the alphabet of the language by which an Onmipo- 
tent and Allwise God intended to communicate with His 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 9 

people in all the future of a vast and endless eternity. I also 
hope that all of the above class at least will consult that 
Spirit of Eternal Truth within them in every-day life, and 
be governed by its commands in their acts, language and 
thoughts, for upon them is laid the responsible duty of 
carrying out the designs of God, since no one guided by the 
precepts of men can ever please Him in the performance of 
his duty. 

The great object, therefore, of this work is to induce 
men to examine for themselves and understand Grod in an 
intelligent manner in every business and calling of life, and 
know that there is but one guide to all men at the present 
day, which is the Spirit of Truth — plain and simple, yet wise 
and powerful, quite sufficient for every emergency, however 
complicated it may be, for ''God is Truth.'' 

Very respectful^, your obedient servant, 

B. Bywaters. 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. H 



CHAPTEE I. 
Introduction. 

In writing this work I will endeavor by the help of the 
God of heaven, as in my search for truth, to divest myself 
of all prejudice, and the influence of the doctrines and theo- 
ries of men deduced from the Bible, with which I came in 
contact, and was taught in early life to reverence as the prin- 
ciples laid down by God himself, to be carefully and rigidly 
adhered to and followed by men in order to please the Cre- 
ator and obtain salvation, notwithstanding they claimed to 
be nothing more than the opinions of profound men not in- 
spired. And it is a fact, indisputable, that while they fail 
and come far short of explaining very many important feat- 
ures and declarations met with in the sacred volume, yet to 
differ in opinion from those principles, however sacred one 
may hold the faith in Jesus as the Christ, and great Witness 
of the God of the universe, and recognize the operation of 
His Spirit within him, he is subject to the appellation of 
heretic or innovator, and at once anathematized by the lips 
of those exemplary men who should ever be characterized 
by that charity mentioned in 1st Corinthians, thirteenth 
chapter. But knowing the imperfections of man in this age 
of the world, we must consider the recognition of what is 
termed ^'Orthodoxy" as the great obstacle in the way of the 
immense work yet to be done by the Spirit of Almighty God. 

When I set out to search the Scriptures, I determined to 
exclude from my mind what little I knew of the doctrines of 



12 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the different churches, and to forget, if possible, all that I 
had read of profane history, discarding from my assistance 
any light or information afforded by the arts and sciences, 
and thus put the Scriptures to the test, holding that if they 
were the words of God to man, that certainly they should 
contain nothing he could not understand at this age of intel- 
ligence, provided he read with an object pure and wholly 
honest, for the glory of God, and to know his duty and the 
relation he bears to his Creator. And thus I began the task, 
willing to accept any system of God^s operation with man 
that I found clearly taught and properly and satisfactorily 
connected through the Scriptures; provided they proved in 
their connection that Jesus was the Son of God, and in what 
manner He was the Word of God, and the Redeemer and 
Savior of main. This was the only thing I held sacred, and 
felt bound to reject the Book if it did not thoroughly satisfy 
my mind and understanding that Jesus was the Christ — a 
man on the earth in whom dwelt the Spirit of God. And 
ere I reached the end of the New Testament Scriptures I 
learned that this belief, and the platform on which I stood 
in the outset, was wholly correct, and that the Spirit I nos- 
sessed was all that any one needs to obtain the information 
necessary for their salvation; and not only so, but that I 
grew up from childhood in the same belief, and possessing the 
same Spirit — not by virtue of the Book, but the influence of 
those Christia<ns established in the world of whom the Book 
gives a history. Nevertheless, I had been persuaded by 
teachers that I was void of that Spirit of Truth, and that 
it was necessary to go through certain forms and cere- 
monies to obtain it, as it was with the heathen or uncon- 
verted Jew; while it had only been necessary from my earl- 
iest childhood to teach me obedience to the Spirit which 



Two Thousand Years in Bternity. l3 

God had given in the great plan of salvation. In the day& 
when this Spirit was first being introduced to man's under- 
standing as the Spirit of God, and it was yet new to the 
heathen and the Jew, John said in his first Epistle, chapter 
4, verse 2: "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ 
is come in the flesh is of God," and what greater teacher 
can man have? Indeed, it is the only teacher of each and 
every individual in this age of the world recognized by 
the God of heaven. 

While I had set out to search the Scriptures as a book 
into which I had never looked before, I did in my heart 
and entire being abhor the idea of finding it deficient in 
the evidence (theoretical) that Jesus was the Mediator 
between the unseen God and man, provided by the Creator, 
since I knew of no other means, and was satisfied that there 
was no other connecting link between him and His intelli- 
gent creatures capable of reasoning; which would leave 
man out on the great ocean of life, floating at the mercy of 
a mind filled with imaginary things of every character, 
without compass or rudder — a condition to me more repul- 
sive and horrifying than nonentity; and hence the fact was 
forced upon me at once and without the shadow of a doubt, 
that I was lost, in the true sense of the word, without Jesus 
as the Christ, "the Faithful Witness of God." But upon 
a subsequent and continuous examination of myself, I 
found that I Avas filled with that required Spirit, which 
was met and supported by the unbroken and beautiful chain 
of evidence seen in the Scriptures, by beginning at the Cre- 
ation, and examining carefully through even to the end of 
John's description of the New Jerusalem. 

Man is a creature of God, and hence no part of him 
is uselessly made; and to understand anything of his duty. 



14 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and tlie relation he bears to his Creator, he must be gov- 
erned by the commands and laws given by that Power which 
created him. And that it is necessary for him to know 
God is evident, since it is absurd to suppose that man, as 
an intelligent being capable of reasoning from cause to 
effect, can with any degree of certainty serve a Master of 
whom he knows nothing; nor can he as such a being exist 
separate from his Creator; for intelligence belongs to God, 
and if man separate himself; both he and his intelligence 
become finite, and must certainly perish, or sooner or later 
cease to exist. But it was one of God^s fixed determinations 
that man should know Him, and not only so, but that this 
knowledge should be obtained according to that intelligent' 
system of reason given him in the beginning, by which he 
should know all things else necessary to constitute him a 
perfect' agent, to accomplish the grand and stupendous de- 
signs held in view by the Architect of the universe when 
He first introduced man upon the stage of action. 

During the animal period of man, or at the beginning, 
he was only endowed with the power of obedience, and was 
required to accept the commands of God without question- 
ing. But as the mental faculties gradually developed, man 
was not expected to believe anything that was not demon- 
strated and placed within the grasp of his mental .ability; 
and hence, now that man has arrived at that degree of 
intelligence at which he is able to comprehend the philo- 
sophic operation of a Creator with the creature, he simply 
believes that which he cannot avoid believing. In other 
words, he can only accept as true, and rest confidently upon, 
that which is forced upon his understanding, by resorting 
to that same power of reasoning given him to understand 
all things with which he coine^ in contact or beards a ye- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 15 

lation to. And it is by this means he investigates all of the 
declarations of God^, and becomes established in that knowl- 
edge necessary to constitute him an intelligent servant, 
capable of understanding and carrying out the mandates of 
God, through the Spirit of Truth, which is the only me- 
dium of communication from God and guide to man at this 
age of the world, or perhaps ever will be again while man 
dwells upon the earth. 

JSTow, that this system of operation be permanently 
established among mien; not giving place to Atheism, De- 
ism, and all manner of infidelity, it is important — indeed, 
indispensably necessary that the evidence be clear and de- 
cisive to the mind and understanding of man, as to the 
operation of God in placing him permanently in this high 
and exalted position, so nearly akin to Himself; there must 
be no inconsistencies nor contradictions in those vital parts 
of the evidence, which do create painful uncertainties in tlie 
minds of intelligent, thinking men, only to be filled up by 
the unsatisfactory assertion of those who claim to under- 
stand and expound the Scriptures, that they are "figures'"; 
which with the refusal on the part of orthodoxy (so called) 
to allow such men to read and understand for themselves 
upon this as well as all other subjects, trusting them to the 
Spirit of Almighty God to direct, making each individual 
personally responsible to his Creator for his manner of 
understanding and obedience to the wdll of God according 
to his own ideas of right and wrong, is the great reason 
why so many learned men of the world come out in open 
renunciation of the Scriptures, and boldly refuse to ac- 
knowledge Jesus Christ as the Mediator between God amd 
man; notwithstanding the impossibility for the world to 
attain to the highly ci\/'ilized and enlightened state it now 



16 Tvjo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

occupies, without that Spirit of God, or ^^Spirit of Truth," 
which only could have been procured for man, or introduced 
to him by the works of Christ, or some other invincible 
evidence of the true and living God. All men, both priest 
and people, seem to have practically lost sight of the fact* 
that in ages past, in the early history of the world, that all 
of us with very few exceptions bowed down to stocks and 
stones, confidently expecting therefrom a display of such 
protection and achievements as only belong to an intelli- 
gent and omnipotent God. And while such was the case 
(as all will agree upon calm reflection, aad every evidence 
adduced), we have but to ask the question in support of 
Christianit}^, How were we raised up and saved from so de- 
graded a state of misery, darkness, and death, and brought 
to the present peaceful, civilized, and highly improved con- 
dition when contrasted with the past? x\nd now, instead' 
of considering the great work for which the Scriptures were 
written — or rather, of which they are a history, finished, 
full, and complete a,& it really is — theologians seem to be 
trying to fit them to a work that is being carried on by an- 
other, more powerful, refined, and perfect agent of God; 
and notwithstanding the work is greatly retarded by the 
mythological manner of reading and construing the Script- 
ures, and an effort to confine the operations of God in a 
certain described channel of formalities, through which 
they moved in the less intelligent period of man, it can 
never be stopped; but will certainly move on, though slow- 
ly, yet with that firm, unwavering step that characterizes 
all of the works of God, till every system of theology got- 
ten up by man — every creed and doctrine advocated as the 
rule of man's actions, does succumb to its overwhelming 
influence. 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 17 

Now, I hope the reader will be able to see clearly, and 
understand in everything I endeavor to write on this all- 
iniportajit subject, that I have but one thing to accom- 
plish and one object in view; that I have no creed nor sys- 
tem of theology to lay before the people as their guide ; nor 
to censure any man or set of men for so doing ; but I trust 
that a spirit of charity and meekness \^411 be manifest 
throughout, to all who examine the ideas I endeavor to 
present. I do earnestly desire that all men everywhere in 
the Christian world rid their mind of all impressions made 
by the declarations of men who are looked upon as teach- 
ers of theology; "Try the spirits whether they are of God"; 
and with perfect honesty and truth in their hearts, desir- 
ing wisdom from God; take up the sacred volume and study 
the manner of operation of the Creator with His creatures, 
the object He had in vicAV^^ and determine to his own sat- 
isfaction whether the work was accomplished; and that 
they understand it according to the same system of reason- 
ing by which they understand all things else. And if all 
men would do this, it would fully satisfy my desires, and I 
should not wish to accomplish more, having the utmost con- 
fidence in the "Holy Spirit," or "Spirit of Truth," teach- 
ing all men at the present day to the perfect satisfaction of 
the Father. 

My object I trust and verily believe upon a close exam- 
ination of myself, is the glory of the God of heaven: that 
is, that all men upon the ea.rth acknowledge and recog- 
nize Him in an intelligent manner, as the great Cause of 
all causes, the only true and living God, and that each hold 
himself personally responsible to Him for the manner of 
understanding and obeying His commands. 

Now, in the beginning of this work, I must ask that 
the reader exercise charity enough to look upon it as an 



18 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

honest expression of my understanding of the Scriptures 
read in the manner abov^e mentioned; and that it is a priv- 
ilege all men should enjoy, provided their opinions do no 
violence to the position that Jesus the Christ was the Son of 
God; nor to His mission as the sacrifice for sin, and the 
^^Faithful Witness'^ of the Father, and mediator to man. 
And that all men of the present age can understand them 
and their object of purpose is certainly true; a fact borne 
upon their face, as well as statements to that effect writ- 
ten upon their pages. Why did the Greeks "search the 
Scriptures daily" (Acts, chapter 17, verse 5) if fhey could 
not understand them? And if they in that age of the 
world, when the reasoning faculties of man were less devel- 
oped, could understand, who is able to give an intelligent 
reason why we should not? 

I hold that if the Bible is a book of God written out 
for man's benefit, that it was written in such words and 
sentences as would convey to man the ideas that God in- 
tended he should have of His operations; an,d hence, for 
the definition of the phraseology we must look to the book 
alone. All other lexicographers are but men as you or 1, 
and have no greater facilities for obtaining information of 
the God of heaven than the humblest member of the 
Christian world, each for himself. I mean that while in- 
spired men wrote and spoke in those days for the nation's 
good, that each individual at the present day is sufficiently 
inspired to construe for his own good, and thus it is that 
God holds each one responsible personally for his acts, and 
no man can judge him. 

For example, let each of us take the Bible as we 
emerge from the Dark Ages and go alone into some cavern, 
even the bosom of the earth, where solitude, in all of its 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 19 

magnificence, reigns supreme, and there ponder over its 
contents from the beginning to the end, with a virgin mind 
and an honest heart in search of truth, and we will find it' 
to be a written prophecy or foretelling of things that were 
to come to pass, as well as a history of such as had already 
transpired at a later date, at which a part of that Scripture 
was written; all of which was solely for the purpose of 
teaching poor, ignoraait man, who was to be the agent and 
servant of the Creator, the omniscience of God in contra- 
distinction to the gods of the earth, and to develop mthin 
him that intellectual reason which was to be his guide in all 
the future, in the discharge of his every duty. But we of 
the present day, either from indolence or a desire to shirk 
responsibility, lock up that ability somewhere in the secret 
recesses of our being, and follow like cattle led to the 
slaughter those self-constituted teachers who have no more 
natural ability, and perhaps not so much as you or I, who 
presume to dictate to us every act in the performance of our 
duty on the great stage of action. 

We also must consider the present or old translation 
of the Scriptures the best in our possession, or ever can 
have for the following reason: it is sufficiently plain and 
has answered the purpose for which it was intended most 
admirably; and since God does not intend one man to con- 
strue for another, each revision of the Bible must be to a 
greater or less degree influenced by human nature, and be- 
come sectarian proportionally. It is too much the case that 
we refer to the explanations of learned men, and accept them 
as correct without investigation; forgetting tliiat knowledge 
is not wisdom, nor do the Scriptures so recognize it. 

As to words and sentences, we cam only arrive at theii 
meaning by the manner in which they are used through the 



20 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

entire book; and hence all important ones must be care- 
fully examined — such, for example, as soul, death, forever, 
judgment, end of the world, heaven, and many others which 
must be understood to mean the same thing to-day in read- 
ing the Scriptures that they did when written; and we can 
only arrive at a knowledge of them by observing closely 
their use throughout the written history, which is the defi- 
nition we must accept, and be governed by, however differ- 
ent from the accepted meaning of the present day. 

Nor can a man understand the Scriptures while study- 
ing them in support of any theory or doctrine. They were 
not written for that purpose, and hence can never be made 
to correspond to it. He who would obtain wisdom must 
"ask of God not doubting, nor wavering,^' and read with his 
heart and mind so cleansed from prejudice and sectional 
ideas, and filled with honesty af purpose, that he is willing 
to discard any doctrine or former teaching not supported 
by the Bible, to the perfect satisfaction of his understand- 
ing. What I mean by understanding the Scriptures is, to 
be able to see clearly the object for which they were writ- 
ten, and the relation they bear to us of this age: and that' 
the objects of both Old and New Testament scriptures have 
been most admirably achieved in setting up a system which 
God had in view when man was created; to be introduced 
at the beginning and exist cotemporary with his intelli- 
gence; the operation of which was intended, as it surely will 
in the ages of futurity, by its unerring manipulations, purify 
man, raise him up far above the requirements of his animal 
organism, and make him more and yet more perfect and 
like the God who created him; endowed with great power 
such as is imparted by intelligence and wisdom : a state short 
of which man is unreliable and unfit as the agent of God, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 21 

to carry out the perfect designs laid down or traced out by 
the hand of the great and all-wise Architect. And man to- 
day is operating or being opei;ated by this system: the only 
difficulty or obstacle in the way being the same that existed 
in the change from the sacrificial service and requirements 
of the written law. It was difficult for them in that age to 
separate the two systems, not being able to see clearly how 
that the new could exist and be sustained wholly without 
the old. So to-day, true to the finite nature of man, we 
have been dragging usages and requirements of a previous 
and less intelligent age over and trying to fit them to the 
present; not raising our mind^s eye to look at the example 
set before us, and learn that in all the great operations of 
God, the material of an old system is never taken to work 
into a new, but that nothing is retained or transferred ex- 
cept the eternal, vital principle, which is a part of God him- 
self. This is clearly demonstrated by the seed of vegeta- 
tion placed in the ground, containing a vital principle from 
which springs forth a new body, made up of new material 
to the exclusion of every atom of the old. And hence in 
this new spiritual or intellectual system all forms, cere- 
monies, and ordinances performed by the physical man as a 
part of the service of God, which evidently in themselves 
contain no virtue now, cause man to look upon his Creator 
as stupid or exacting; and His direct operations as a thing 
of raytholog}^ mnst and will be lopped off, else man can 
never be raised to that state of perfection at which he will 
be like his Creator. When it was said that "God created m]an 
in His own image,^^ evidently from the tenor of the Script- 
ures, did not mean that man then was, when first introduced 
upon the earth, nor even now thousands of years subse- 
quent; but that man at that period and state of perfection. 



22 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

contemplated by the Creator at the declaration, would be in 
His image — the image of God. And while the system and 
principle is inaugurated and established in the heart of man 
beyond all possible destruction, which is to finish the work 
and make him that perfect creature contemplated; we must 
keep vividly before our minds the fact that "One day is 
with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as 
one day/' 

One safeguard to and great evidence of this new and 
magnificent system is, that while man's understanding of 
its operations with himself may be perfect, opened up as it 
is by the perfect Spirit of Truth within him, yet it is im- 
possible for him as an imperfect being to transfer that 
knowledge and understandng to another exactly in every 
feature as it exists in his own heart or mind; and hence the 
necessity of each thinking and reasoning for himself and 
being directly responsible to God for his manner of under- 
standing and the performance of his duty according thereto. 
For the above reason, if no other, I cannot hope to cause 
you to see and understand this matter in every particular 
as I do myself; but if I can no more than present to your 
understanding the framework, or induce you to take upon 
yourself the responsibility to read and search in the manner 
before described, it is all that I can hope or have a right to 
expect. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTEE II. 

Definition of Words and Sentences Used in the Bible. 

And now as I set out to give my views of the Bible, and 
the operation of God with man, I shall endeavor to use and 
give such definitions of words and sentences as were forced 
upon me by reasoning after the manner of men, and their 
general use and application throughout the work. I shall 
not refer to every place in which they are used, since I hold 
that it is impossible for anyone to obtain a satisfactory un- 
derstanding of the whole or any part thereof, without begin- 
ning at the first of Genesis, and searching carefully and 
regularly through to the end of Eevekftion, to determine 
the two great features in this, as well as all other under- 
takings. First, the object; and second, the manner of 
achieving it. Until we understand these, it is absurd to 
suppose we can arrive at a definite and correct knowledge 
of the me/aning of words or phrases, and their proper appli- 
cation. And so far from telling you to accept my views as 
correct, 1 advise that you let no man construe the Scriptures 
for you, however learned he may be. And yet, further, I 
must say that unless your mind is open to the conviction 
that the Word of God dwelt in the flesh among men for 
their instruction, you need not expect to be benefited, for 
the days of miracles to convince the heathen of the true 
and living God are long since past, and the nation who has 
not accepted the evidence must forever perish. Ponder 
well the last sentence; it is a subject worthy of much 



24 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

thought, and ask yourself the question: Am I a heathen 
or am I a Christian ? If not a Jew (so called). 

Eemember that I am not writing to please or court the 
admiration of any man, or set of men ;' nor to support any 
creed, doctrine, or sectional theme; neither do I seek to 
evade the galling tongue of the critic, for my poverty may 
forbid this ever being presented to the public; if not, how- 
ever, bear in mind that it requires less skill and ability to 
point out defects in any superstructure than to supply their 
places v,dth better material. I am in solitude beneath the 
shade of the forest-trees, only writing for my own pleasure 
the thoughts that arise in my mind by following closely in 
my meditations the "Spirit of Truth," with a hope that if 
they come under the observation of any, it will redound to 
the glory of God by enabling them to understand more 
clearly that He has been just ^\dth His creatures and more 
merciful than is possible -for man at the present day to com- 
prehend; a thing which seems to be but dimly seen by many 
of the Christian world, if we are allowed to form an opinion 
from their expressions. 

Of all who read, I ask an impartial examination in con- 
nection with the Bible, and not alone, and to accept any 
impressions new to you made by the Bible and not this; 
and in that way and manner that will enable you to base 
your eternal interests upon them, and not for temporal pur- 
poses. And again, should you in the course of this work 
meet with words or sentences that seem to indicate a want 
of veneration for Deity, just think again of the fact that 
one man cannot judge another, and accept the assurance I 
here give, that every line is penned with a feeling of the 
highest respect for God, and deepest regret that I am not 
capable of apprecia,ting to a higher degree the great mag- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 25 

nitude of His wisdom in all things and His patience and 
benevolence to man. But that such expressions, if any, are 
only indulged in to convey more clearly and forcibly to 
your mind the idea I entertain; for it is evident to any in- 
vestigating mind that many definitions given by the more 
scientific do not in all oases carry with them the force of 
the original words. For example, the word "lie/' because 
of its harsh impression, has been modified by various defini- 
tions to suit the more delicate and fastidious language of 
refinement, which modifications with their subdivisions seem 
to ease the mind of the higher circles of society in their 
efforts to comply with the insatiable demands of the perish- 
able flesh, while they hurl the original word back as a thing 
only fit for use among the vulgar, often willing to engage 
in deadly combat over its introduction, notwithstanding it 
is but the true garb of a horrible monster, whose ravages 
they constantly suffer, because of the more elegant and re- 
spectable robe it has donned. Now, I censure no one for 
this, since we are all fallible beings and our human nature 
yet strong. But I do desire that each think and act for 
himself, and thus assist to disrobe and stamp out, not only 
this, but all other words of evil meaning in our language; 
and above all, so live and act as to forever abolish the 
necessity of their use among us. For it is a burning 
shame that in nineteen hundred years of the Christian era 
we have made such slow progress in assimilating God that 
we yet in the best societies have to teach our children the 
Ten Commandments — the Organic Law, and say, "Thou 
shalt not steal,'' "Thou shalt not bear false witness," "Thou 
shalt not lie,'' when we should have lived so that our chil- 
dren of the present age would not have known even so much 



26 Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 

as a possibility of such vile acts; nay, those words should 
have been blotted out of our vocabulary. 

I call your attention more particularly to this word 
^'lie/^ because of its vast importance for you to consider 
throughout the Scriptures, being in all of its modifications 
and bearings exactly the opposite of God; for "God is 
Truth/^ and I find upon examination that we should accept 
this as a real and demonstrable definition of God in all 
things, even to the smallest matter of every-day life, and 
that such is the idea intended to be conveyed by the Script- 
ures. The general definition of this word "lie" is "a false 
statement to deceive" — a falsehood. Now I ask, is this a 
comprehensive definition that can with safety be used in- 
stead of the word? And whether its use has not been at- 
tended with evil results? I find upon an examination of 
this also that any statement, action, look, or any other sign, 
whether true or false, conveying or intending to convey an 
idea, or make an impression abortive or non-productive of 
anything real according to the understanding of him who 
speaks or acts, is a lie. I also hold that the Spirit of Truth, 
which is the "Spirit of God," is ever present in the mind of 
the liar to accuse, condemn, and stamp the sentence of 
death upon his heart. And hence it is plain to me that 
smooth sentences clothed with the language of human re- 
finement and softly spoken are no more acceptable to God 
as a mark of reverence than the truthful search for a knowl- 
edge of real things, and expressing it in words primitive 
and ungarnished. There is nothing more clearly set forth 
by Christ and the apostles than that God now looks solely 
to the spirit and understanding with which a man acts, aaid 
not the act itself; and no living man has a right to question 



Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 27 

or criticise that action when it is wholly within the circle 
of the civil law. 

Let US look at some other words used in the Scriptures 
necessary to be understood in reading this work, and I am 
satisfied you will agree that it is as necessary to try to un- 
derstand words of importance as it is sentences, chapters, 
or even the entire work. Indeed, I am inclined to think 
one reason for the Bible being so vaguely understood is 
that the mind of the reader is not sufficiently directed to 
words and their meaning as used in the Book, which is the 
only possible way of arriving at their signification, and each 
must read and understand for himself. One finite man 
or mind cannot in this age trust to the teaching of another 
finite and fallible being in things pertaining to God. All 
men are finite and fallible, and the Scriptures teach us 
clearly that God has provided a more excellent way, and one 
in which man may not -err. And I hope to be able to speak 
of it in such a way on future pages that you will clearly 
have my idea of its operation. 

I now turn to the beginning, at which time "God cre- 
ated the heavens and the earth." Not for the purpose of 
investigating the question of time comprised in the six days 
of creation; for I conclude that man has very little to do 
with the time required by God to do anything, except in 
such cases met with in the Scriptures, where precise time 
was given and man was required to measure the periods as 
they rolled by; to prove to him the great power and intel- 
ligence of the true and living God, and to distinguish Him 
from the gods that were worshiped in the form of material 
and perishable things. Sufficient for me to know, and plain 
to be understood by a careful examination of the first and 
second chapters of Genesis, is the fact that the six days of 



28 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

creation was a completion of the whole plan in the mind of 
God, so to speak, or, as it were, marking out the designs upon 
the trestleboard of the great Architect from the beginning 
up to the time when man's intellectual reason was so devel- 
oped that he could comprehend spiritual operations; Jesus 
the Christ being the example of perfect obedience set up 
for him at the beginning of his eternal period, or third 
stage on the earth, or rather lait the close of what then was 
the second world; when the direct operations of God on 
earth ended, except through man as His intelligent agent 
operated by His Spirit in each individual, who ate of the 
fruit of the Tree of Life shown in the garden of Eden; and 
to this end it evidently was the object of God as. shown in 
the Scriptures to establish His name or a proper knowledge 
of Himself in the heart of an intelligent people at the begin- 
ning of the third w^orld, or eternal period. But we must 
return to the first chapter of Genesis. 

Now, we accept readily and understand the definition 
of the word "earth,'^ as is indicated in the Bible, to mean 
the globe on which we live, and it is satisfactory to man at 
the present day, and I can only understand the Scriptures 
by accepting the literal definition of the word "heaven," 
given in Genesis, ch. 1, vs. 6, 7, 8 : "And God said, Let there ' 
be a firjnament in the midst of the waters, and let it di- 
vide the waters from the waters. And God made the firma- 
ament, and divided the waters which were under the firm- 
ament from the waters which were above the firmament; 
and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven.^' 

From the foregoing, I see no possible room to suppose 
anything else than that heaven is the space between th^' 
earth and the clouded canopy above, and to frame any other 
in our minds is only a stretch of the imagination to satisfy 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 29 

our finite nature ; for it evidently is all the heaven referred 
to in the Scriptures of instruction with which man is con- 
cerned during the first and second period of the world, and 
the general judgment and consummation of all things writ- 
ten; and I can never consent to any other than this defini- 
tion, since it is the only one that can be made to harmonize 
with the operations of God as described in the sacred 
volume. 

It is said (Eph., ch. 4, v. 10) that Christ "ascended up 
far above all heavens," and Paul said he knew a man "caught 
up to the third heaven"; but we are none the wiser, for such 
things as were heard were not for men to knoAV, except they 
be revealed to us during the age or period of the third 
world. John also heard things which he was told not to 
utter nor write, even in the more immediate heavens. But 
we are to consider all things written for man's instruction 
where heaven is spoken of as relating to the heaven insep- 
arably connected with the earth, which was certainly the 
dwelling-place of the spirits of those who passed away prior 
to the coming of Christ, where they awaited His preaching, 
preparatory for the resurrection and general judgment, as 
is mentioned in St. John, ch. 5, vs. 24-28; ch. 11, vs. 25- 
26: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my 
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting 
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed 
from death unto life. Verity, verily, I say unto you. The 
hour is coming, and now is, wh^n the dead shall hear the 
voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For 
as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the 
Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority 
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. 
Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all 



30 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

that are in the graves shall hear his voice/^ Also (1 Peter, 
ch. 3, vs. 18-19; ch. 4, v. 6): "For Christ also hath once 
suffered for sins, the just for the nnjnst, that he might 
bring its to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quick- 
ened b}^ the Spirit: b}^ which also he went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison/^ "For for this cause was the gos- 
pel preached also to them that are dead, that they might 
be judged according to men in the flesh, but live aiccording 
to God in the spirit." But of these things we will have 
to speak again; so I return and call your attention to the 
word '"soul," and in so doing I shall not attempt to refer 
you to all of the various places in which it is used, since that 
would cumber this work unnecessarily: hoping as I do that 
you will, subsequent to reading this, take up the Scriptures 
and again carefully examine them from the beginning to 
the end, guided by the Spirit of Truth, and freed from all 
sectarianism; and that you will accept the impressions made 
upon you by the latter rather tha.n the former. My object 
is not to have men endorse my views, but to accept Jesus 
as the Christ, in the most intelligent manner according to 
the ability God has given them. 

NoAv, while the word "soul" has in two or three in- 
stances been used synonymously with the word "spirit," we 
nevertheless can understand from the different manner in 
which the two words are used that a soul is a spirit clothed 
with a body, making it intelligible; othermse it is not, and 
it takes the two to make a soul. James (ch. 2, v. 26) says : 
"The body without the spirit is dead." And Avhen God 
first made man (Gen., ch. 2, v. 7), He "breathed into his nos- 
trils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." 

In all cases where the dead were raised, it was said that 
the spirit returned to the body, except, I believe, one in- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 31 

stance (1 Kings, ch. 17, v. 22), where the word "sour^ is used 
in the place of "spirit/' thus: "And the soul of the child 
came into him again, and he revived/' Levit., ch. 20, v. 6, 
says : "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar 
spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will 
even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from 
among his people." lumbers, ch. 15, v. 27: "And if any 
soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat 
of the first year for a sin offering." Joshua, ch. 10, v. 28, 
32, 39: "Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the 
edge of the sword, and ... he utterly destroyed them and 
all the souls that were therein." Romans, ch. 13, v. 1 : "Let 
every soul be subject unto the higher powers." In the fore- 
going and many other places the soul is spoken of as an 
individual — living human being, and evidently is composed of 
the two parts, the spirit being one, and the important part, 
and the body the other; the two combined forming the soul; 
and may be temporal or mortal. The same spirit clothed 
with a heavenly or spiritual body becomes an eternal or 
immortal soul, not subject to change. Nevertheless, souls 
here on the earth at this age of the world who believe in 
Christ are also immortal; for when they drop the body of 
flesh, they immediately don the spiritual body and remain 
the same : of which we Avill likely have occasion to say more 
in the future. 

Isaiah (ch. 53, vs. 10, 11, 12), speaking of the coming 
Messiah and the manner of His death, said : "Yet it pleased 
the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when 
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see 
his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the 
Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail 
of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall 



32 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their 
iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the 
great^ and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because 
he hath poured out his soul unto death." 

The soul of Christ was made an offering for sin which 
can be easily understood; since in life his individual spirit, 
or spirit of Jesus, which gave life to his body, was never 
consulted in flis perfect obedience to the Father, but was 
in all instances sacrificed and gave place to the rule of the 
Spirit of God ^vithin Him; and the body Avas finally de- 
stroyed upon the cross : and thus the two which formed His 
soul were made an offering for sin, from which we may 
learn to offer ourselves a living sacrifice. The body of 
Christ being the visible sacrifice and the spirit the invisible, 
which could not be judged by man, as it is with us at the 
present day. And a.s the spirit quickens the body forming 
a soul, so the Spirit of God through Christ quickens the 
soul, and hence the eternal life; and this is why it is said in 
1 Corinthians, ch, 15, v. 45: "The last Adam was made a 
quickening spirit," while "the first Adam was made a living 
soul." In the same chapter it is also said : "There is a natural 
body; and there is a spiritual body/^ The writer also says: 
"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed;" and 
such is our condition, as we shall see further on that there 
is no more death, neither will we sleep. 

We now turn to the word "death" or "die," a word of 
great importance, and one that requires a very careful ex- 
amination and close observance of its use to arrive at a 
definite conclusion as to its meaning. It originated during 
the first stage of man, and its use has been continued be- 
yond its day, and applied to all cases of dissolution of the 
body indiscriminately. Where it originated in the Script- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 33 

iires it evidently meant a destruction of that eternal prin- 
ciple, which is only comprised in a knowledge of the True 
and Eternal God; and existed in man primarily in the form 
of a mere germ, and constituted the difference between man 
and beast ; without which he also comes to a final termination 
when the body is dissolved, and this is doubtless the death 
that reigned from Adam to Moses; and without the resusci- 
tating influence of Christ, Who was prepared to preach to 
those spirits, an.d teach them the ways of the True God, 
they never could have lived again in an intelligible form 
or manner. In the last chapter of Daniel it is said of the 
days of the final consummation of all things written: "And 
at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which 
standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be 
a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a na- 
tion even to that same time: and at that time thy people 
shall be delivered, every one. that shall be found written in 
the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of 
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some 
to shame and everlasting contempt." And this vitalization 
among them was as among those who yet dwelt in the body : 
some believed and were accounted worthy to obtain the res- 
urrection, while others did not. Those who believed were 
therebv revived, so that in due time the 2:erm of life would 
spring forth a living being; not, however, until the entire 
work was finished which was spoken by the prophets; at 
which time those spirits were clothed with the spiritual 
body, and became intelligible, while those in the body who 
believed in the True God through Christ never died, but 
slept, or in some obscure way awaited the time when the 
heavens and the earth should be cleansed and prepared ac- 
cording to the purposes of God; from and after which time 



34 J'wo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

there was and is no more death to the Christian who obeys 
the Spirit of God, neither will they sleep; but immediately 
put on the spiritual body, when the natural body decays, or, 
in other words, they are changed ; and hence "the victory 
over death through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

N'ow that this term is not applicable in all cases may 
already be plain to you. Jesus endeavored to introduce a 
different one, and used the word "sleep," in the case of 
Lazarus (and elsewhere), which was certainly appropriate 
in that case; but when His disciples from the old accustomed 
usage did not comprehend ; then said Jesus unto them, 
plainty, "Lazarus is dead." (St. John, ch. 11, v. 14.) And 
while you can see the applicability of the word "sleep" at 
that period, at which man began to gather about the Tree of 
Life and partake of its vivifying fruit prior to the resur- 
rection, I hope that I shall be able to show you clearly, be- 
fore we get through this work, how T arrive at the con- 
clusion that neither is applicable in all cases at the present 
time. 

Before turning from this subject I must say that ac- 
cording to my understanding or system of reasoning by the 
Scriptures, the Creator had no reference to the simple sep- 
aration of the body and spirit when He said to Adam and 
Eve: "In the day thait thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die." As we will have to revert to this matter, I 
leave it for the present. 

The word "forever" seems to be one of circumstances, 
and must always be considered according to its use and con- 
nection. For example, God promised the land to Abraham 
. and his seed forever, saying in Gen., ch. 13, v. 15: "For all 
the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy 
seed forever." He chose the Levites and their sons to nun- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 35 

ister in the name of the Lord forever. (Deuteronomy, ch. 
18, V. 5.) ^'The leprosy therefore of Xaaman shall cleave unto 
thee [Gehazi] and unto thy seed for ever/^ (2 Kings, ch. 5, 
V. 27.) Fire kindled against Judah which shall burn for- 
ever. A¥e see in the above instances that the word is ap- 
plied to temporal and perishable things, and hence can only 
mean the time of duration of each. As, for instance, in the 
case of the Levites, it certainly means that they alone should 
be priests during that administration, or the Jewish system 
of worship, which long since has been broken down, never 
to be re-established. The Temple has been destroyed and 
never again will it be erected on its former or any other 
foundation. As to the land being given to Abraham and 
his seed forever, means unquestionably that had the Israel- 
ites lived according to the commands as God wished them, 
they would have possessed the lands to the extermination 
of all other nations who would not accept their system of 
service of the True God. But Israel was a failure. In the 
case of Gehazi, it is clear enough that as long as any of his 
seed were propagated, they would be subject to leprosy, but 
we would stultify ourselves to say or presume that the seed 
of Gehazi is traceable on down to the present age of the 
world as a family of lepers. The fire against Judah can not 
possibly mean more than that the fire of God^s indignation 
shall continue until all of the evil and horrible iniquity of 
Judah was consumed. (In this connection please remem- 
ber the word "fire,'^ which we will call your attention to 
next.) I think it clear and easily understood that the word 
is intended to convey the idea of duration; that is, during 
the entire reign or existence of a kingdom, race or people, 
era., or administration, or as long as a thing exists in the 
then condition, 



36 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Let lis look at it in some other connections. In speaking 
of Babylon, it was said by Jeremiah (ch, 50, v. 39): "There- 
fore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the 
islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: 
and it shall no more be inhabited forever; neither shall it 
be dwelt in from generation to generation/^ Again Jeremiah 
(ch. 51, vs. 60-64), when he commanded Seraiah the priest, 
when he went in company with King Zedekiah to visit 
Babylon seven years before the fall of Jerusalem: "So 
Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come 
upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against 
Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou com- 
est to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words ; 
then shalt thou say, Lord, thou hast spoken against this 
place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man 
nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. And it 
shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, 
that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst 
of Euphrates: and thou shalt say. Thus shall Babylon sink, 
and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: 
and they shall be weary." Babylon was not to be inhabited 
forever, means without a doubt, that as the wave of the 
Euphrates closed above the rock and roll from Seraiah's 
hand; so the wave of time should close over Babylon — "tlie 
hammer of the whole earth" — and that never again while 
the cycles of time moved round, or the never-ending ages of 
eternity rolled on, would Babylon, wicked Babylon, ever be 
reaped upon her former foundations, or be the habitation 
of human beings. Nay, more is meant by this declaration 
against Babylon. It is prominently set forth in the Script- 
ures, and clear to the mind of any careful reader, that idol- 
atry with it^ con^ecjueiit vice., wickedness^ and bombje crwe 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 37 

had reached its acme; and with the downfall of this hein- 
ous bloody city began to descend toward its western hori- 
zon, and thus must continue till the Spirit of God in the 
heart of every living human being shall wipe out even so 
much as a trace of its memory. Babylon was emblematic 
of the entire world under the universal rule of paganism. 
We look at one more application of the word in Isaiah, 
ch. 51, when speaking of the time when the Christ by His 
example should establish a knowledge of the true and liv- 
ing God in the hearts or minds of men as it is to-day, which 
knowledge is salvation, if men act in accordance with that 
knowledge: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look 
upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away 
like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and 
they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my 
salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not 
be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteous- 
ness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the 
reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For 
the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm 
shall eat them like wool : but my righteousness shall be for- 
ever and my salvation from generation to generation." N"ow> 
it is plain to the mind of any thinking man that this sal- 
vation refers to this age, the third age of the world, or third 
world, which was established by the Holy One of Israel — 
the- Christ by whom a knowledge of the true and living God 
in the heart or mind of man, that we might know that the 
Great Cause of all causes was a Spirit within to guide and 
direct us, while the poor miserable wretches who inhabited 
the whole earth at that time universally believed that CausQ 
to be of material substance, tangible, and so worshiped it. 
Jeremiah speaks of the time when man should be taught 



38 Tvjo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

that the intellectual Spirit within him was God, who con- 
stantly guided him, or directed and enabled him to know' 
the right from the wrong. In chaipter 31 he says: "But 
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house 
of Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my 
law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; . . . 
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and 
every man his brother." At which time the world was es- 
tablished and ready for its eternal existence as it is this day 
and will stand thus forever. Isaiah, ch. 45: "But Israel 
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye 
shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For 
thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself 
that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, 
he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I 
am the Lord; and there is none else." So we see that the 
world, though not yet perfect, is placed in its eternal exist- 
ence, and that the Spirit of God in the hearts of men will 
perfect the entire world, and as God swore (Numbers, ch. 14, 
V. 21), saying: "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall 
be filled with the glory of the Lord." Thus you see that 
the word "forever" cannot possibly be construed to mean 
eternal, without end; also that the words "world" and 
"earth" have two very different significations; which needs 
no comment. 

We now turn to the word "fire" and I must say that 
it does seem strange to me that this word in its biblical 
application should be ambiguous to the mind of any care- 
ful reader; nevertheless it certainly is, even among teachers 
of theology; if I am allowed an opinion from their expres- 
sions and declarations in common conversation, and in their 
official instructions to the people; nevertheless there are 



T^vo Thousand Years in Eternity. 39 

very many satisfactory explanations in the Old Testament, 
and the same expressions are used in the New, and same 
purposes carried out. This word has been used as the most 
comprehensive expression to an ignorant people, such as th(* 
human family at that age; and unquestionably means — any 
element or agent that will consume and totally destroy; 
and while material fire was sometimes used, it formed a 
very small part of the means of destruction. In their war- 
fare they knew nothing of firearms, and yet there were 
far more people destroyed in war than any other way, not- 
withstanding Sodom and Gomorrah were said to have been 
destroyed by fire and brimstone, and other places in their 
destruction were also burned. Isaiah (ch. 28, v. 22), in 
speaking of the second great destruction of the world, calls it 
a "consumption," saying, "I have, heard from the Lord God 
of hosts a consumiption even determined upon the whole 
earth;" and while some of the apostles and others construed 
it to mean that the world was to be burned with material 
fire, nevertheless this second destruction of the world was 
to be by blood, which was to be one of the great witnesses 
of God, as were the waters of Noah. Ezekiel (ch. 38, v. 21), 
in speaking of this great destruction, says : "And I will call 
for a sword against him" [Gog, from the land of Magog.] 
"throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every 
man's sword shall be against his brother." In chapter 39 
he says: Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, 
thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: 
I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and 
to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall 
upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord 
God." 

John says, in speaking of this same event (Rev., ch. 14, 



40 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

V. 19-20) : "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, 
and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great ■ 
winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was 
trodden without the city, and hlood came out of the wine- 
press, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thou- 
sand and six hundred furlongs." 

Are you not satisfied with this? Are you not con- 
vinced that this was the "great day of God Almighty," when 
the world was to be and was destroyed ; and that the mighty 
agent called in requisition to do this work of "consump- 
tion" was the sword, aided by famine and pestilence, which 
are declared to be God's three sore judgments? Yes, it is 
even so, as we shall see further on in this work; and I thank 
God to-day that it has long since passed. 

Job says in chapter 31, speaking of whoredom and 
aduter}^: Tor this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity 
to be punished by the judges. For it is a fire that consum- 
eth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase." I 
refer to one more place of the very many in which this 
word is shown up in its true meaning. Turn to Isaiah, 
chapter 9, where he says: "For wickedness burneth as the 
fire : it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle 
in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like 
the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord 
of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as 
the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother." You 
see here that wickedness is a consuming fire among man- 
kind; and those who live in it must a^nd will be consumed 
by it. One is turned against another, and by this heated 
fire of wickedness and the spirit of evil within was to be 
the great destruction of the world, first mentioned to Isaiah. 
Bear this in mind when in the New Testament you meet 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 41 

with such expressions as '^consuming fire," "unquenchable 
fire"; and in Luke, chapter 12, Christ said: "Suppose ye 
that 1 am come to give peace on earth ? I tell you, nay ; 
but rather division." "I came to send fire on the earth; 
and what will I, if it be already kindled ?" This is the strife 
engendered between the powers of the earth and the powers 
of heaven, or carnal spirits of men, and the Spirit of God 
which Christ introduced in the hearts of His votaries; they 
are antagonistic and cannot be reconciled to each other, 
and hence 1 Cor., ch. 3, says: "For other foundation can 
no man Jay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. No^t 
if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious 
stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man^s work shall be made 
manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be 
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work 
of what sort it is." This meant that the tribulation which 
was to come upon the professed worshipers of the God of 
heaven, by the teaching of Christ, was to try them; and 
they were sorely tried aind many could not stand the test, 
for. it is said there would be a great falling away ; but God 
knew Hie elect would stand firm, and hence "the foundation 
of God was sure." 

The word "judgment" is used a great deal in the Script- 
ures, in connection with various important events; and by 
its use is conveyed the idea of punishment, retribution, per- 
haps obliteration in. some instances, and surely refers to 
the various ways of destroying wickedness, disobedience, and 
every opposition to the great designs of God, and is more 
especially directed against idolatry. It was also used nation- 
ally, as were most all other terms in the Scriptures, since 
God^s operations prior to the day of Christ were national; 
and His judgments were His different modes of dealing out 



42 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

justice to the nations, and establishing righteousness on the 
earth. This term is used in speaking of the great and most 
important event in the history of man, which was the sec- 
ond destruction of the world, when it was established under 
the rule of the Spirit of God; and included all of the events 
of that "great day of God Almighty," "the judgment day," 
when idolatry received its death wounds, and the kingdom 
of Christ set up in the hearts of men, at which time began 
man^s eternal state. 

(Ezekiel, ch. 14.) Here we find the word fully ex- 
plained and applied with its utmost force. Speaking of his 
different judgments and their power separately, and then 
of their force when united in their action. I give it to you 
in detail as it was told to this great prophet : 

"The word of the Lord came a^ain to me, saying. Son 
of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing 
grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and 
will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send fam- 
ine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: though 
these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they 
should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, 
saith the Lord God. If I cause noisome beasts to pass 
through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, 
that no man may pass through because of the beasts : though 
these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, 
they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only 
shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. Or if J 
bring a sword upon that land, and say. Sword, go through 
the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: though 
these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they 
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall 
})e delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that 



Two Tliousand Years in Eternity. 43 

land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from 
it man and beast : though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in 
it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither 
son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls 
by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord God; How 
much more when I send my four sore judgments upon 
Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome 
beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast ?" 

Eelative to this very important event, the "indigna- 
tion," the great judgment, the ideas in the minds of the 
Christian people seem to be very defective and refer to a 
great day of investigation, losing sight of the fact that with 
God it is wholly executive: that all matters as they arise 
to existence pass in review before His omniscient eye, and 
it only remains for Him to appoint the day and manner of 
executing the penalty for the violation of His laws and com- 
mands; the sword, famine, and pestilence being the prin- 
cipal agents recognized throughout the Scriptures. And it 
is clearly indicated to my mind that the greatest and most 
terrific judgment the world will ever experience, and the one 
prophesied hundreds of years before Christ, spoken of by 
Him and looked for by the apostles and disciples, has long 
since been executed. 

I now call your attention to one more very important 
word in the study of the works of God in the early history 
of man, the acts and objects of Christ in the winding up of 
the second period of the world and the purposes of God's 
elect from the beginning to the end of the work complete. It 
is the word "glory." This is truly a key by which we may 
unlock and open up many apparent mysteries in God's opera- 
tions, understand His object in the words of prophecy writ- 
ten out, and Christ fulfilling it: and enable us to compre- 



443 ^^^ Thousand Years in Eternity. 

hend iu a reasonable manner His mission as Eedeemer and 
Savior of the world, and "Faithful Witness," and how His 
blood as an atonement for the sin of the world did satisfy 
God and procure eternal life for man. 

The glory of God on earth is to be known and acknowl- 
edged by every human being, as the Author and Creator of 
all things. The only true and living God of the universe, 
the power that controls the destiny of man, rewarding him 
for obedience, and punishing him for evil. To be thus 
known to the total destruction of all other gods, either an- 
imate or inanimate; and a perfect submission on the part 
of all mankind to the commands of His Spirit, is His glory, 
and all the glory required of the world. And the day will 
come in the history of man when God will be thus glorified 
in every thought, word, and action of every intelligent be- 
ing that lives on the face of the earth. And it was to this 
end He strove for His own name's sake, as He said to Israel 
(Ezek., ch. 36): "I do not this for your sakes, house of 
Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have pro- 
faned among the heathen, whither ye went." For He had 
entrusted His name to Israel, who failed to protect and pre- 
sent it to the world as the true God of heaven; but to the 
contrary, did worse than the heathen, and worse than God 
thought they would do, for Jeremiah said (ch. 19, v. 5): 
"They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their 
sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I com- 
manded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind.'' 
Although they had been recognized as the people of the 
living God by other nations, they turned again to idolatry, 
as is said in Eomans, ch. 1 : "Because that, when they knew, 
God, they glorified him not as God, .... and changed, 
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 45 

to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, 
and creeping things;'^ and hence the declaration by Isaiah, 
chapter 42 : "I am the Lord : that is my name : and my glory 
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven 
images." 

But we will speak more particularly of this in connec- 
tion with the object of God, as shown in all the Scriptures, 
to protect His name among the nations of the earth; and 
the great determination to hold fast to the glory due to 
Him, as Author of all things, though it cost the blood of 
the whole human family. 

I speak of the above words, not that they are the only 
important ones for your consideration in studying the 
Scriptures; but to call jovlT attention to the importance of 
arriving at a knowledge of all words and sentences by the 
manner of their use and application in the Bible. The 
original language conveyed the ideas that God intended man 
should entertain; and we can never obtain those ideas by a 
new system of definitions; neither can we understand the 
operations by dragging the old system up to fit the present 
age; nor upon the hypothesis that "history repeats itself.^' 
This is an a,dage which, while it has been declared by many 
learned men, is nevertheless wholly untrue, and contrary 
to the great principles of God^s operations. Progression is 
the motto on the title-page of His stupendous work, and 
while the process of pruning and cleansing calls in requisi- 
tion many times the same implements of the Divine Builder, 
they are never to perform the same work the second time, 
but He selects suitable material, and the massive refuse is 
from time to timie consumed with the parings, while the 
building is unerringly and steadily reared to that point of 
perfection at which i^ written, the word "Finished" upon 



46 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the glittering capstone. And we should take into consider- 
ation that in the creation, of any edifice there is greater 
care in selecting material for the foundation, and conse- 
quently a heavier test and greater amount of refuse, than 
at any subsequent part of the work. And so it was in the 
great Temple or City of God. 

The Bible is true and treats of and points man to a 
system most magnificent in its operations, which has been 
thus far systematically grown out of what we would term 
a chaotic mass of miserable material. And while I am thor- 
oughly satisfied as to the correctness of my understanding, 
and gaze upon the designs with great admiration, I sicken 
at the feebleness of any effort I shall put forth to convey 
my ideas to another; but I am forced to take upon myself 
the responsibility of saying that the various systems of the- 
ology of this nineteenth century must be revised to accord 
more literally with the Scriptures, and the understanding 
of this more intelligent age. ISTot that Christianity is retro- 
grading, but that infidelity is making more rapid strides 
among the more intelligent people of a Christian land. 
This should not be, but must evidently grow worse so long 
as one man's constructions are forced upon another equally 
intelligent, instead of entreating him to think for himself, 
and be guided by that Spirit of Truth which God has placed 
within him. Since one man is not. held responsible for an- 
other unless he m'akes himself so by erroneous teaching. 
There was a day during the second period of the world when 
the son would say the father "ate a sour grape," but that 
has long since passed away, and was wholly inconsistent 
with the more excellent and perfect system which God held 
in contemplaition to be introduced as soon as man's intelli- 
gence would admit ] at which time all stupid f orm?il naechan- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 47 

ical service was abolished forever, which became obnoxious 
to God, and hence any feature in the service of an omnis- 
cient Ruler not productive of comprehensible benefits to 
the subject, and a more excellent idea of the intelligence of 
the Creator, is certainly more despicable in the eyes of God 
to-day than it was two thousand years ago. 



48 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTEK III. 

The Beginning of Man. 

Let ns now go back to the garden of Eden, where man's 
experience with his Creator had a beginning. 

"And out of the ground made the Lord God to groAV 
every tree that is plea-sant to the sight and good for food; 
the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and tlie 
tree of knowledge of good and evil." 

Now, as Jesus the Christ proved by His life the authen- 
ticity of prophecy, so the present condition of man as 
spoken of by Christ proves His authenticity beginning with 
the apostles. In other words, we are to look at the present 
and all subsequent events, to determine the correctness of 
previous premises, and bear in mind that we are to under- 
stand all things by that system of reasoning given us by 
the Creator. This position to the thinking mind needs no 
comment and we go on to the command. 

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying. Of 
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eal 
of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die." 

There are various speculations among the learned of 
the world as to how man was introduced upon the earth 
and what his condition then was. I will only speak of one, 
which seems to hang about and clog the wheels of intel- 
lectual progregg of very many well-developed Tweii of tho 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 49 

present age. I allude to the system of evolution, which 
holds that man sprang from a lower grade of animal organ- 
ism, which while it has existed cotemporary with man, what- 
ever class or species it may have been, has never reproduced 
man nor raised higher in the scale of improvement than 
all other animals that are governed by the laws of instinct; 
man alone having become superior, taking as it was in- 
tended the likeness and image of his Creator, and was per- 
fect in the designs, both physically and intellectually, a.s 
drawn upon the trestleboard of the Architect on the sixth 
day of creation. Gen., ch. 1, vs. 26-27: "And Grod said. 
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let 
them liaTC dominion over the fish of the sea, aaid over the 
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God 
created he him, male and female created he them.'^ 

Now, in this system of evolution, it has been said that 
man sprang from the monkey, ape, or some other of the 
lower animals, but to account for man not being reproduced 
by the same process which produced the original of the 
human being, the same philosopher and physiologist tells 
you that "one link is missing." I^ow, if this be true, and 
the theory of evolution be also true, then there must be a 
missing link between the monkey and the animal from which 
he sprang, or was evolved; and so on down. But (Genesis, 
ch. 1), "God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creat- 
ure after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of 
the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the 
beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, 
and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: 



50 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and God saw that it was good/' Then He immediately said, 
"Let us m-aike man in our image/' 

Now, let ns see which of these theories is supported by 
the physiological facts of the present day; and you will "un- 
derstand one of the many reasons why I am a confirmed 
believer in the Bible, but not as professed teachers of theol- 
ogy of the present day construe it. 

In support of the above qnotations from the Bible, that 
all animals and the various species of all animal organism 
must bring forth of its own kind only; take the horse and 
the ass and put them together, and the mule is produced, 
but a separate genus is not established thereby; for when 
you take the male and female of the mule and put them 
together, they will cohabit, but nothing is produced; neither 
will the mule united with the horse or ass produce any off- 
spring. Take the dog and the wolf, and put them together, 
and a cross between the two is the result, and this produc- 
tion will continue to reproduce to the sixth generation and 
stop; and so in some instances with animals of lower grade. 
Then take the Afrida,n and the Caucasian, the negro and 
the white man, and put them together, and a cross between 
them is produced; and this production will reproduce to 
about the sixth generation; so say physiologists of research. 
However, be that true or false (but I think it true), we do 
know that no separate genus is produced; and further, 
that no species is established; but that the mulatto is pro- 
duced and continued among us to-day by the continuous 
cohabiting of the full-blooded negro and the full-blooded 
white man, the one with the other. 

i^ow, if there be a link lost between the monkey 
and the white man, there must also be a link lost between 
the negro and the white man. But we see the negro assim- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 51 

ilates the white man in every particular of physiological 
structure^ far more than does the monkey^ and yet we see 
the principles of evolution lost. But I will admit that this 
is no irrefutable argument to an advocate of the theory of 
evolution, for they may say, upon the hypothesis that a 
mere statement is sufficient foundation on which to base 
an argument, that the negro is altogether a different being, 
and evolved from entirely a different class of animals. This 
I would not gainsay if there was any evidence to establish 
the theory of evolution; for it would have been as easy for 
God to establish a negro as a genus of his o^vn from a sep- 
arate and distinct class of animals of a lower grade as to 
have so established the white family; and if such was done. 
He must have established in him at a certain point an unlim- 
ited power of procreation, so that mlan could reproduce his 
kind forever, and then by a special and direct act destroyed 
the power of mongrel production in him as well as in all 
other animals of the lower grade, and thereby stopped that 
system of evolution which He hiad inaugurated in the be- 
ginning. But is this reasonable? Is this consistent with 
His operations in all things at the present time? If this 
theory of evolution be true, then there is a link broken in 
the chain of production of all classes of the whole animal 
kingdom. But the fact is, there is no chain at all in the 
procreative organs of the different classes of the animal 
creation, but a similarity in structure of the body only. We 
see the whale is a mammal and may be called the connecting 
link between the sea animals and the mammalia of the dry 
land, and while it is similar in part of its structure, it would 
be absurd to say that any four-footed beast of the earth ever 
•sprang from the animals that inhabit the sea; although the 
sea animals were made first. 



52 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Now we do not propose to go on to speculate as to the 
exact manner of God's operation to form the body of man 
or any other animal. Sufficient for ns to know is, that His 
designs are so complete and system of operation in carry- 
ing out those designs so nicely and so perfectly arranged 
that whenever a necessity arises for any visible or tangible 
body as an agent to carry out those designs, immediatel} 
mat;ter infinitesimal begins to congregate to form the nu- 
cleus of a certain body which God holds in His mind, so to 
speak. And it may be that this is about all we will know 
of His system of originating material things ; nevertheless 
it is impossible for us at this age to tell anything about the 
degree of intimacy that may be attained between man and 
his Creator, in the course of this never-ending world, for 
man is to be in the likeness and image of his Creator, the 
God on and of the earth. 

But when man was introduced on the stage of action, 
he was to all intents and purposes then and there an ani- 
mal, subject alike to the laws of instinct, but with one dis- 
tinguishing feature constituting him a separate class and 
species from all others, and while it was intensely small, it 
was quite sufficient, as subsequently proven, to answer the 
purposes of God, and constitute him vastly superior in de- 
sign to all other beings of His creation. This distinguish- 
ing feature was evidently an intellectual germ, which we 
can but understand in like manner as the perpetual vital 
principle contained in the seed of vegetation and no fur- 
ther, except that from the latter is evolved a material or- 
ganism, while the former produces a being similar in many 
respects to the God of the universe. But while the prin- 
ciples of evolution may hold good to some extent within 
each species or class in the animal organism — i. e.^ a supe- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 53 

rior aniiiial ma}^ spring from an inferior, and on the other 
hand, a perfect and full-fledged intelligence may be evolved 
from a mere germ, yet the former can never produce the 
latter. We see in many species of the animal kingdom a 
great degree of perfection attained by high breeding, and so 
perhaps may every species be improved; nevertheless they 
are wholly animals still, and we may say manifest no im- 
provement whatever in intellect further than what is nec- 
essary to self -protection, which is quite sufficient to answer 
the purposes for which they were intended. Intelligence 
belongs to God — ^indeed, is a part of God, and it is contrary 
to philosophic reason and God^s system of operation for the 
creature in any way to produce any part of the Creator; but 
when that principle is once planted, as it evidently was in 
the animal man, to make him in due time a superior being 
for God^s use in the carrying out of some stupendous de- 
sign, not necessary at that time for man to understand, it 
grew and developed according to the laws governing His 
great system of progression. And since all things were 
created in the six days and perfect in the design, this gerni 
which was to produce an intelligent and perfect man was 
also planted. 

Now, let us see at what point this vital principle be- 
gan to- germinate, so that man could understand the will 
a.nd operations of God. I find it indicated in several places 
in the Scriptures that knowledge is not wisdom. A knowl- 
edge of temporal things or such as pertain to the physical 
world can never make a man eternal ; and wisdom, according 
to our system of reasoning and plainly taught in the Bible, 
consists in a knowledge of eternal things or such as per- 
tain to God and His designs, and is the only thing that makes 
man eternal or maintains in him the principles of eternal 



54: Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

life. Now, this knowledge can only be conveyed to man by 
the direct teaching of the Creator. No other power is capa- 
ble of opening up to his mind a knowledge of the things 
of God, save the Spirit of God within him, and this is clearly 
shown in 1 Corinth., ch. 2 : "God hath revealed them unto 
us by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the 
deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of 
a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the 
things of God knoweth no mjam, but the Spirit of God.^^ 

Now, let us examine these things according to man's 
system of reasoning, for this is evidently the way by which 
God intended him to understand all things in due time. I 
do not here mean the spirit of man, but the intelligent rea- 
son given him by the Creator. 

Is not obedience absolutely necessary as the first step 
in obtaining a proper knowledge of anything? Unques- 
tionably obedience to certain laws or commands of God is 
the foundation of wisdom, and hence King Solomion said: 
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.'' And 
this is the earliest point in the history at which he could 
comprehend the development of this germ or understand 
anything of its character, and hence the power of obedience 
given to him by his Creator was this germ of intelligence. 
The reason I say man had the power of obedience is, that 
God commanded after He made him; and God is intelligent 
and philosophic in all of His works; and no intelligent be- 
ing would issue an order to a subject whom they knew could 
not obey. I am willing to admit thjat God knew he would 
not until he was chastised. God did not intend in His de- 
signs that man should be deceived; the very fact of a pro- 
vision for salvation after his fall and a declaration that he 
did fall from his former estate shows in itself that God had 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 55 

a system of operation laid out in the event of man^s obedi- 
ence. So throughout His entire works there were provisions 
made for man had he obeyed the voice of God, and evidences 
of this are too numerous to mention. Man was endowed 
with the power of obedience in the beginning, but nothing 
more. And while God intended him perhaps to partake of 
the tree of knowledge at some future period if found worthy, 
and also of the tree of life, yet it was not necessary aiS a 
just God to explain to the creature these things, but wholly 
enough for him to know that God did not want him to par- 
take at that time, and hence the simple command, "But of 
the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat 
of it.^' This was quite sufficient for man to know, especially 
as he was told the consequences ; and it is but just and right, 
and according to everj?" intelligent system of reasoning, that 
every machine, being a creature, should be held responsible 
to the exteni of the power given by the Creator, and no fur- 
ther, and it is upon this principle that we are able to see and 
understand God in the true light of justice in all of the 
punishments brought on man. For when God did make 
man on the earth and showed to him the two roads, one 
leading to destruction, and gave to him the power to take 
the other according to the command, it is evident to any 
thinking mind that there was but the one thing requirecj 
of him; and that had he done according to that require- 
ment, God, his Creator, would have taken care of him and 
safely transferred him across the great chasm of ignorance 
to that point at which he was capable according to develop- 
ment to exercise properly more of the powers of his Cre- 
ator; at which time it would have been granted him in a 
legitimate way, and this second step or degree is knowledge 



56 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

of good and evil. But many men in the world ask. Why 
were there two roads given to man? or in other words, Why 
was the tree of knowledge placed before him in the garden 
so that he might take of its fruit ? or, Why was it not made 
impossible for him to fall? 

Now, the necessity of this is clear enough when we take 
into consideration that man w)as more than a brute when 
made and evidently intended for some great work of his 
Creator in ages to come, and hence he is composed of two 
distinct parts: First, the animal, composed of the physical 
body and animal spirit; of which the writer in Ecclesiastes 
(ch. 3) speaks as f ollo^rs : "I said in mine heart concerning 
the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, 
and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; 
-even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth 
the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath 
no pre-eminence above a beast." This is that first part of 
man in which is planted the second part, the Spirit of Grod 
or intellectual germ, which is to develop into the likeness 
and image of the Creator. For an example of a perfect man 
composed of the two distinct parts, I refer you to Jesus 
who was the Christ, and whose mission was to establish that 
eternal principle or Spirit of God which was planted in 
Adam, but destroyed by his disobedience; and hence all 
nations forgot God and refused to obey this same vital prin- 
ciple, wliich was to make us sons of God as was Jesus the 
Christ, which is indicated in Romans (ch. 8) as follows: 
"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye through 
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall jive. 
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 57 

sons of God." This idea is also held out prominently in 
many other places in the Scriptures. 

Now, this first part of man, the animal, had need of 
a certain system of support and propagation like all other 
animals, and this could have been carried on as well by God^s 
direct care and operation, which we call instinct, as it is 
in the lower grades, and certainly would have been in its 
purity had man obeyed. But since he was intended as a 
being similar to God, it was necessary, according to the 
great system of development, that this intellectual germ be 
brought in contact with the requirements of his animal be- 
ing, he having the power to obey the first command; and 
hence it was but just, if he refuses, that he should learn obe- 
dience to the intellectual requirements, though he suffer 
chastisement for ages in the course of instruction, as it was 
intended that the' intellectual should control the animal, and 
finally bring it wholly in subjection, thereby making man 
a being of great power, possessing many of the attributes of 
his Creator. This seems yet more reasonable and just 
when we take into consideration that the world thus estab- 
lished and composed of intelligent beings will remain for- 
ever. Nor could we think it unreasonable had it required 
ten thousand years to establish a world of such intended 
duration and that the preparation of man for so exalted a 
position should have continued equally long. 

Now, while God foreknew all things, it is evident that 
He did, and reasonable that He should, issue commands and 
deal out justice and mercy to His subjects as though He 
knew nothing beyond the present; otherwise He could not 
forgive ma.n for an offense to-day when He knew the same 
would be repeated to-morrow. None but a God can know 



58 Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 

future events and not be swerved from the path of justice 
by that knowledge in dealing with ignorant and inferior 
beings under His control : and in the case of man it was nec- 
essary that the commands be given on from time to time, 
until future generations learn the necessity of obedience 
for their own welfare, at which point they begin to fill the 
purposes of God. 

It seems but fair, on the principles which hold good to- 
day, that where there is no cross there is no crown; where 
there are no dangers there is no heroism, and consequently 
no glory; that man should be thus left to the simple powei^ 
given him in the beginning, God knowing that he could not] 
foil Him in His ultimate designs, though he obtain prema- 
ture and illegitimate knowledge and defeat himself, God 
' holding the right to control him if even it became necessary 
to sweep him from off the face of the earth, as was shown by 
the cherubims and flaming sword to keep the way of the 
Tree of Life. Since the physical man was an absolute neces- 
sity as a dwelling-place or temple for God, it was impos- 
sible to keep the two elements of his mechanism from com- 
ing in contact, and hence the two roads mentioned. God 
did not tempt man, nor intend that he should take of the 
tree of knowledge at that time as some say. This is incon- 
sistent with good reason; and to suppose such a thing cre- 
ates many insurmountable difficulties in the Scriptures. Nay, 
the apostles to whom so much was entrusted declare to the 
contrary. James (ch. 1) says: "Let no man say when he 
is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God can not be tempt- 
ed with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man 
is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and 
enticed." Which is evidently the animal propensities, or, in 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 59 

other words, is the first part of man, composed of the phys- 
ical body and the spirit wJiich gave life to it, ministers to 
or demands its necessities and strives to satisfy its lustful 
desires; and was undoubtedly the devil which tempted Je- 
sus the Christ. And since all things were created in thb 
six days, it was necessary for everything in all the earth to 
co-exist, even in utero, the different compositions of man 
not excepted; for if this were not the case, then would the 
six days of creation have been imperfect and many things 
perhaps be of subsequent production. But this is not the 
case in the works of God, as is demonstrated in the growth 
and development of any and all bodies. We see, as the proc- 
ess advances to maturity in due time, new and altogether dif- 
ferent parts composed of different material spring forth 
from the same body with unerring certainty to fill their 
places in the organism, either to strengthen or beautify that 
bod}^ which was Just as perfect in all of its parts before it 
grew — i. e., it existed perfect in miniature; and so it was 
with man and so also with the combined world, w^hich did 
exist in miniature in the garden of Eden. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

The Three Periods of Man Indicated in the Garden of Eden. 

Now let us revert to the garden of Eden, where we find 
upon examination three stages of the world and three great 
degrees of man, which degrees I can better understand and 
speak of with more perfect satisfaction to the reader by 



60 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

namiing them as seems to be indicated in the history, as fol- 
lows: the animal, the intellectual, and the eternal. 

The first is man in his primeval state from the time 
he was placed upon the earth to the time tke Creator in- 
tended him to begin to partake of the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil, or rather when he began to emerge from 
the irresponsible period operated by the direct acts of God 
which we call instinct: during which he was little more than 
an animal, being wholly governed by his animal proclivities, 
and by his knowledge and influence corrupted the lower 
classes of the animal kingdom. 

The second degree begins at the time when it was in- 
tended that man should by virtue of this growing intellect' 
know the difference between good and evil, or understand 
that there was such a thing as good and evil, and extended 
on till his intellectual development under the system of in- 
struction inaugurated by his Creator enabled him to com- 
prehend the influence of the Spirit of God and be guided 
by it, at which point Jesus the Christ was introduced as 
the Tree of Life, and preparation made for the close of the 
intellectual period; and the beginning of the third or eternal 
state, when man could rationally understand his Creator 
as the great and only controlling power of the universe by 
such means and evidence as are convincing beyond all ques- 
tion or shadow of doubt; which knowledge once established 
in man at this degree of intelligence can never be eradi- 
cated, but must continue to grow and expand in all of the 
excellency of the unseen God till he attain that degree of 
perfection contemplated on the sixth day of creation, which 
so far transcends the present in the sublimity of virtue and 
power that it is impossible for us at this (so called) advanced 
age to comprehend its grossest features. Now, this knowl- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 61 

edge of God was again brought to the understanding of man 
by various means, but the convincing testimony was em- 
bodies in "Jesus the Christ, who is the faithful' witness and 
the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings 

of the earth : who washed us from our sins 

in his own blood, and hath made* us kings and priests unto 
God, and his Father." He it was who stood in all of the 
resplendent glory of the "Tree of Life" in the midst of the 
garden; and from the time of man's transgression was care- 
fully and constantly guarded by the two cherubims on 
down through the immensity of time to that advanced stage 
of the world at which the Creator considered man a fit sub- 
ject for eternal life; and they too in the last great and appal- 
ling struggle, like the Master they so dearly loved and 
guarded, fell by the ruthless hand of Antichrist in the 
streets of the great spiritual Sodom. And in this last dread- 
ful struggle, which completed the testimony for Jesus as the 
Christ, established a knowledge of the True God in the 
hearts of men beyond the possibility of destruction; time 
ceased and the eternal period began. 

We have now spoken of the three stages of the world 
and the three important periods of man under the heada 
of animal, intellectual, and eternal, and before proceeding 
further, I wish to call your attention to a very important 
matter by asking you, Why was the Godhead divided into 
three parts : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ? Was 
it done for the necessary well-being of God himself, or was 
it for the benefit of man, that he be the better able to know 
God in an intelligent manner and comprehend His operations 
in controlling all things on the earth ? Of course, you will 
agree with me that it was the latter. Then you will cer- 
tainly agree that it was necessary for man to underst^n4 



62 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the purposes of each, and the sphere in which they oper- 
ated, in order to properly know Grod. Now, I hold that the 
Father operated silently npon nnintelligent beings of all 
kinds, and necessarily therefore presided over man during 
the first or animal period, when he was most helpless, and 
was gradually superseded by the Son, Who reigned during 
the more intelligent period, which I have named the intel- 
lectual. I now refer to the ninth chapter of Hebrews, which 
says in reference to the time of Christ's coming as the Son 
and Word of God: "Nor yet that he should offer himself 
often as the high priest entereth into the holy place every 
year with the blood of others; for then must he often have 
suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in 
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of himself/^ So you see that at the close of this 
intellectual period Jesus, as the more comprehensible Son 
of God, was presented on the earth and taught mankind 
the power and influence of the Spirit, or Holy Ghost, which 
is the power on the earth to-day operating in the hearts of 
intelligent men, and is the principal power to be recognized 
during this third or eternal period, and will constantly be- 
come more powerful in its operations as the minds of men 
are refined by it. We see, however, that while the Father 
was the sole power during the first period, that there was 
more or less of His operations continued through the sec- 
ond period, and is even to the present time of the third, 
and will be continued on among the lower animals, and per- 
haps to a greater or less degree with man. Now, this sub- 
ject is too extensive to treat of in detail in this work, and 
hence I can only give the outlines and pass on. 

I now refer you to 1 John, ch. 5, who says : "There are 
three that bear record in heaven; the Father^ the Word, and 



Tloo Thousand Years in Eternity. 63 

the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are 
three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, 
and the blood: and these three agree in one/' 

Now, remember the great object of God was to prove 
to man that He was God, and beside Him "there is no other/' 
Then you can readily see that the mighty waters which del- 
uged tiie earth and terminated the first period proved to 
Noah and his family beyond a doubt that it was God who 
placed a knowledge of that destruction in his mind a hun- 
dred and twenty years before, and we mil see further on 
that the blood which drenched the earth at the end of the 
second period, according to prophecy, did bear Avitness to 
man that it was God and the Son of God who wielded the 
scepter of powder over the world, and governed him in his 
career. And now in this third period, the Spirit itself 
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of 
God,'' as is stated in Eomans, ch. 8. So I think you can in 
an intelligent manner understand how the "spirit, and the 
water, and the blood bear witness in earth," and are the 
emblems of God Almighty's eternal power; and that the 
three were combined in Jesus, Who was the Christ, and shows 
that He was intended as the greatest evidence and combi- 
nation of evidences of the True and Living God; and hence 
the truth of Paul's words to the Colossians, ch. 2, v. 9, when 
he said: "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily/' 

Now before taking a retrospective view of the two great 
st-ages of the world, I will call your attention to the import- 
ant fact that during those two ages of man it was impos- 
sible for him to comprehend the great plans and operations 
of God in the world ; for the germ jof intelligence had not 
sufficiently developed to enable him to see beyond the abso- 



64 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

lute requirements and lustful demands of his own physical 
and selfish being; and hence all plans and emblems which 
were instituted to bring liim to a knowledge of the Spirit of 
God, who is Himself a spirit, were mysterious and spoken of 
as mysteries, as you can see through the Scriptures as well 
as by our practical common sense. But by the teaching of 
Christ, and the Spirit of the Father, which was giyen or 
made known to us through Christ as our guide, we may 
now understand all those things which were once hidden 
and mysterious. Many were explained by Christ and the 
apostles, at which tome they knew in part, and part yet re- 
m^ained to be prophesied. But when this second period was 
terminated by the great contest with Antichrist, and all* 
things written were fulfilled, those mysterious things van- 
ished under the influence of the Spirit of G-od, and we were 
able to look back on the entire system of operation, to the 
perfect satisfaction of our understanding and the pleasure 
and glory of the God of heaven. 

I do not say that those who refuse to raise their minds 
above the carnal man and its requirements and lusts made 
known by the animal spirit within him can ever obtain 
that knowledge; but all who are guided by that Spirit and 
principle of eternal truth germinated by the teaching of 
Jesus the Christ in the hearts of all those who believed Him 
to be the great witness of God, or have a knowledge of God 
through Him, may understand all of God^s plans and oper- 
ations with the world by a close observance and obedience 
to its teaching. And while there are many things in the 
Scriptures to support this position, I call your attention to 
1 Corinthians, chapters 1 and 2, and quote a portion, as 
follows: "But as it is written. Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 65 

which God hath prepared for them that love him." Thus far 
Pan! quotes from the prophet Isaiah, who wrote it hundreds 
of years before the days of the apostles, and thousands of 
years prior to this date, but does not quote it verlatim. 
Isaiah (ch. 61-, v. 4) says: "For since the beginning of the 
world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither 
hath the eye seen, God, beside thee, what he hath pre- 
pared for him that waiteth for him." Isadah, being a more 
intelligent man of that age, and turning his attention to this 
subject, could see clearly by his common reason that no 
man had ever thought of, nor could they understand at all. 
anything about the excellency and beauty of the world and 
mind of man in the developments of future ages of the 
world, nor could they in any way understand the emblems 
given Ihem of things that were to become real in ages to 
come. Then Paul goes on to say (1 Corinthians, ch. %) : "But 
God hath revealed them, unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit 
searchetli all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what 
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man 
which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no 
m^an, but the Spirit of God." And he says in the next verse 
that they had received that Spirit "which is of God" as it is 
given. "iSTow we have received, not the spir.it of the v/orld, 
but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the 
things that are fr-eely given to us of God." Now are we 
not far more intelligent than in the days of the apostles? and 
certainly we of the present time have also the same Spirit^ 
else the death of Christ was without benefit to us. And it 
is by this same Spirit of Truth that we are made more than 
natural men of the world: even "kings^ and priests unto 
God," yea, in the very likeness and image of God himself; 
and while we are able to understand the whole framework 



66 Two Thousand Years in Eteriiity. 

of God^s operations on the earth, we at the present age 
only stand upon the ground-floor of the great temple of 
wisdom. 

By looking at the designs upon the trestleboard or the 
six days of creation, we find that the earth will be properly 
dressed and decorated far beyond what it is to-day, having 
an equal distribution of all things for the benefit of man, 
and he be endowed with much of the wisdom and power of 
his Creator, installed as the sovereign ruler of the earth, 
and all things therein; man himself acknowledging with 
great joy the Spirit of the only God of the universe as the 
power within him, controlling every thought, word, and 
action; when God will indeed be all and in all. As to the 
truth of the above, see Genesis, ch. 1 : "So God creaited man 
in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male 
and female created he them. And God blessed them, and 
God said unto them, Be ye fruitful, and mtiltiply, and replen- 
ish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the 
fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over every 
living thing that moveth upon the earth." 

NoAA^, turn to the eighth Psalm and see what is said in 
a more advanced state of improvement: "When I consider 
thy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the 
stars which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art 
mindful of him ? and the son of man that thou visitest him ? 
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and 
hast crowned him with glory^and honor. Thou ruadest him 
to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast 
put all things under his feet : all sheep, and oxen, yea, and 
the beasts of the field; the fowls of the air, and the fish of 
the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 67 

Now that Jesus was an example of that state of per- 
fection to which mankind must attain, and the exalted posi- 
tion for which He was intended, turn to Hebrews, ch. 2, and 
read Paul's comments on the preceding quotation during 
the second stage of man and just prior to the beginning of 
the third or eternal period of the world which is the pres- 
ent, remembering at the same time that very many of the 
Christian world to-day have risen but little above the brute, 
intellectually : '^Tor unto the angels hath he not put in sub- 
jection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a 
certain place testified, saying. What is man that thou art 
mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crown- 
edst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the 
works of thy hands: thou hast put all things in subjection 
under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under 
him, he left nothing thait is not put under him. But now we 
see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, 
who was nyade a little lower than the angels for the suffer- 
ing of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by 
the grace of God should taste death for every man.'' 

Now while all things were not then put under man, 
Jesus, as the example and witness of God, had performed 
His work in bringing man back to a knowledge of his Cre- 
ator, and provided for him that Spirit, the Comforter, which 
was and is to perfect and fit him for the exalted position 
spoken of and intended. And as Jesus was crowned with 
glory, being acknowledged by man as his superior and ruler, 
so will man be glorified by all things that are put under 
him. And to this end it is necessary that he be so familiarly 
acquainted with his Creator, and his animal nature so thor- 
oughly brought in subjection to the Spirit of God in him 



68 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

that ever}^ command Aviil be carried out according to His 
will; aiid hence the excellent paragraph in the compre- 
hensive prayer taught by our Savior: "Thy will be done in 
earth as it is done in heaven/^ 

Then and not until then is man that complete and per- 
fect agent God wants for the carrying out of some stu- 
pendous plan yet future. We must remember that man 
was intended for God^s own use^, and all are the works of 
God; and until thus perfected^ His operations must be more 
or less direct. One of the most important parts of the work 
in preparing man was the provision for his intellectual de- 
veloprnxcnt, and hence "the great object of the Creator, after 
man was made upon the earth, was to transfer him safely 
across the great chaism of ignorance and place in his heart 
an indelible knowledge that his Creator was the God and 
ruler of the universe ; that he might be able to comprehend 
the influence of that Spirit which was to perfect him in 
wisdom and an intelligent knowledge of all things belong^- 
ing to the earth. 

Now it is not necessary in the object of this work to 
discuss "the tree of knowledge of good and evil/' and the 
maner of man's partaking of its fruits, since it is enough for 
us to know that by that act, whatever it might have been, 
he did obtain premature knowledge and bring upon himself 
untold sorrow and suffering, contrary to the wall and wishes 
of God, and necessitated a system of operation on his part, 
CO maintain his name on the earth and establish it in the 
minds of men beyond that horrible abyss of moral corrup- 
tion, and its consequent idolatry, rapine, and bloodshed. 
For it is but a reasonable supposition from the general 
tenor of the Scriptures, that had all knowledge of the true 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 69 

and living God been blotted out from among men, it would 
have necessitated an obliteration of the last vestige of the 
human family from the face of the earth. Once at least, 
in the annals of man, had he been able to understand 
correctl}^, he might well have been terror-stricken at the 
appalling condition: for evidently the "Word^' was well- 
nigh lost to him forever. Genesis, ch. 6 : "And God saw that 
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that 
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only 
evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had 
made man on the earth, a,nd it grieved him at his heart. 
And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, 
from the face of the earth; both mam, and beast, and the 
creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me 
that I have made them." Now, look a little further to th^ 
cause of God's displeasure and what that corruption and 
consequent violence was. "The earth also was corrupt be- 
fore God and the earth was filled with violence. And God 
looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesli 
had corrupted Ms way upon the earth.'' j^ow there is no 
intelligent man who reads this, free from prejudice, but 
Avill see and know that the small amount of knowledge which 
man had obtained in eating the forbidden fruit caused him, 
male and female, to have carnal intercourse — cohabit so 
promiscuously and universally that all lost a knowlege of 
proper mating to produce offspring; and you can also under- 
stand physiologically the declaration of the writer when he 
said : "The earth itself will spew you out." And it is clear 
that had not the timely destruction separated the noted 
"eight souls" from the poisonous element in which they lived, 
they too would doubtless have sunk beneath the wave. But 
it is said in the same chapter that "ISToah found grace in" 



70 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the eyes of the Lord/^ and God saved them by destroying 
in dne time all corrupting influences with which they were 
surrounded, and thus saved pure seed, as He also did in the 
second great destruction spoken of by Isaiah, the prophet, 
to whom it was first revealed that there would be an over- 
flowing destruction in the midst of all the earth; and in 
chapter 1 he speaks of the reserved seed as follows: "Ex- 
cept the Lord of hosts had left it a very small remnant, we 
should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like 
unto Gomorrah." Paul, in quoting the preceding, uses the 
word "seed" instead of "reninant." (Komans, ch. 1, v. 9.) 
Isaiah (ch. 10) speaks of the great destruction in the fol- 
lowing maner: "For though thy people Israel be as the 
sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the 
consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. Fojj 
the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even de- 
termined, in the midst of all the land." Chapter 14 says: 
"For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall dis- 
annul it ? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn 
it back ? In the year that King Ahaz died was this burden.^' 
ISTow you can see the time that this decree went forth from 
God, and if you will but study closely these first chapters 
of Isaiah, you will learn that as God made known to Noah 
that He would destroy the earth and all living things in a 
hundred and twenty years, he now declares to Isaiah that 
a second decree has gone forth to destroy the earth and 
leave but a remnant to populate the third world, which be- 
came necessary in order to root out the evil, lest it destro}^ 
the good. Paul in his letter to the Komans (ch. 9), in speak- 
ing of the few selected who would be saved in the great de- 
struction, quotes from the prophet as follows : "Esaias also 
cryeth concerning Israel: Though the number of the chil- 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 71 

dren of Israel be as the sand of the sea^ a remnant shall be 
saved." Further on he refers to what Isaiah had said pre- 
viously in regard to saving seed from the children of Israel. 
Upon an examination of the whole matter, I find that 
God^s plan of operation is to uproot all evil and wicked in- 
fluences and break down all opposing powers; that the good 
may take' stronger hold upon the earth and be better able 
to overcome the corrupting growth that unavoidably springs 
up around it. As the growing corn is saved by destroying 
the weeds and grass that prevent its healthy development, 
and not by removing it from the soil from which both good 
and bad alike come forth, so with man: the good can not 
be removed from the earth to protect them from the wicked^ 
but the latter must be destroyed from time to time, to give 
place to the former, notwithstanding the parable of the 
wheat and tares; for it only shows that the good was re- 
quired to wait a time with patience, and the wicked allowed 
to grow among them, till the next great periodical destruc- 
tion came upon the human family, according to the pur- 
poses of God, and refers to the "end of the world" — "the 
judgment" — the "great day of God Almighty" — the execut- 
ing of the decree that went forth "the year that King Ahaz 
died" — the "consumption" — the harvest of the world, and 
other expressions referring to the same event: and the 
Scriptures show conclusively, as we shall see subsequently, 
that in the great harvest thus spoken of there were good 
seed saved upon the earth. Christ himself said in referring 
to this great day of which Daniel wrote so elaborately 
(Matthew, ch. 25) : '"Except those days should be shortened, 
there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those 
days shall be shortened." And they were the good seed 
transplanted into the third world, as was Noah transferred 



72 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

to the second; and from them sprang the good that are 
among ns to-day, though there is yet much evil — much work 
for the sword; and the earth must and will be purged from 
time to time, during the career of man, until all the evil 
be rooted out and its place filled with the glory of God, ac- 
cording to His own declaration. 

Pause here a moment and think, for I would have you 
to understand for yourself, that while God is omnipotent, 
strange as it may seem at a casual glance. He has no power 
over wickedness and evil, except to destroy, for it is wholly 
incompatible with Himself. 



CHAPTEK V. 

A Review of the First Period of Man. 

Let us go back and examine a little more particularly 
this first great period which we now understand as the ani- 
mal; presided over by that division of the Godhead known 
as the Father, and terminated by water, the first great wit- 
ness, emblem, and agent of God. 

The garden of Eden was the world in miniature, and 
it would be gross injustice to Omnipotence and Omniscience 
to presume for a moment that the course man pursued was 
the one intended by and the best system contemplated in the 
mind of his Creator, to bring him to a state of perfection, 
especially in the face of an imperative order to the contrary, 
as well as an immediate provision on the part of God, sub- 
sequent to the act of disobedience, to guard the tree of life. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 73 

And not only so, but we see from that time forward a con- 
tinuous, extra, unpleasant, and even aggravating work for 
the Creator, consequent upon the violent acts of man. And 
while it is plain that his subsequent conduct was contrary 
to the will and more perfect designs of God, as shown in his 
history, and proven by Christ in tea,ching men to pray for 
the time to come when the will of the Father "be done on 
earth as it is done in heaven,^^ it is but reasonable to sup- 
pose that this first act of eating of the fruit of the tree of 
knowledge, which was the key that opened to him a field 
of horrible debauchery, was also contrary to the will of the 
Creator, and that there was a more harmonious system pro- 
vided for him, as was for all things else in the creation. 

While it is not necessary in this work for me to give 
in detail my speculative views as to the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil, and the- act of eating of the fruit thereof, 
I will say simply this for your reflection, that if it was not 
the act of copulation with a lower grade of animal creation, 
it was an act which led them (Adam and Eve) to a direct 
knowledge of the possibility of such unnatural use of the 
organs of generation, and not natural coition between the 
two; and I pass on to ask you to remember that man is 
composed of two principal parts: the animal and intellect- 
ual, and to consider to which of these the command was 
addressed after he became "a living soul" and was placed in 
the garden; and with this we will turn to G-enesis, ch. 1, 
where we find the first command relating to the use of the 
procreative organs given to man indiscriminately with the 
lower animals on the sixth day of creation, the day the lower 
animals as well as man were made : "And God blessed them, 
and God said unto them. Be fruitful, and multiply, and re- 
plenish the earth." . And hence we dare not conclude that 



74 Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the act of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge was the 
natural act of coition, but have the best reason to suppose 
that the animal man would have been governed during his 
period of ignorance or animal age by the same laws of in- 
stinct (as they are called) that govern the lower animals 
in propagating their species, but this premature knowledge 
did cause man to corrupt himself and pervert the use of 
those organs of generation, otherwise the male would never 
have been prompted to an act of coition except when the 
female was in a suitable state for impregnation, as is the 
case among the lower animals, except in a few instances; 
where man has altered the system of breeding provided by 
Nature, there is a tendency to corrupt the use of those or- 
gans. For this man is responsible, since such a tendency 
does not arise among animals left to the provided course of 
j^ature; he, however, is the master over, and it becomes his 
duty to rectify all discrepancies in the acts of the animal 
kingdom under him. 

Now, while we have seen that the command to multi- 
ply was made to the animal part of man, or, rather, placed 
within his physical nature, as it was with all others of the 
animal kingdom, let us look beyond the fall at the result of 
the transgression of the command to the intellectual man 
not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and 
see some of the consequences expressed by the Creator in 
a declaration made again to both the animal and intellect- 
ual; I now refer to Genesis, ch. 3: "Unto the woman he 
said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception : 
in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire 
shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.^^ 

We cannot otherwise than conclude by this that the 
Creator did not originally intend mankind to be born in 



Two Tho2isand Years in Eternity. 75 

the world in such rapid succession; indeed, it is quite rea- 
sonable to our understanding how it might have been other- 
wise under different circumstances, such as would have ex- 
isted had the intellectual man been kept ignorant of any oth- 
er than the natural and necessary use of the organs of gen- 
eration, and yet quite sufficient, according to the original 
designs of God, for all of His purposes. We must not for- 
get, while reasoning upon these subjects, that man was not 
wholly an animal; that he had power above the animal king- 
dom in the beginning, and that his destiny when complete is 
to assimilate in many respects the God who made him, 
even to be, as it were, a god; and unquestionably this pre- 
mature knowledge obtained by violating the command 
given to the intellectual part of his composition did great- 
ly increase his suffering and place obstacles of great mag- 
nitude in the way of his intellectual and moral improvement. 

B}^ this intellectual knoAvledge of the powers and use 
of the procreative organs on the part of both male and 
fem.ale, which the lower animals are not in possession of, 
we may readily see how an excessive use of them would be 
prompted by the action of the mind, and in return, the sor- 
rows of the female are greatly augmented by a knowledge 
and the anticipation of the pains of labor during the whole 
period of gestation, from the moment she is cognizant of 
pregnancy; and on this account her suffering and sorrow are 
both mental and physical, and certainly are far beyond the 
comprehension of any but those who experience them; while 
the lower animals know nothing more than the physical 
pains as they arise. 

It was also said to the woman : "Thy desire shall be to 
thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'^ Now, upon this 
particular part I deem it unnecessary to comment very 



"76 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

closely, for it seems that the wisdom of God is plainly man- 
ifest to any thinking mind that after the female had ob- 
tained a Imowledge of her physical powers it was decidedly 
better that her desire be for the male of her genn-s and class, 
and because of the aforementioned sorrow, it was necessary 
that he have the power over her so that she submit to his 
will; else there would be no offspring. 

It is but just that we should take a casual glance at the 
declaration made to Adam, or the male man. In Glenesis, 
ch. 1, V. 39 : "And God said. Behold I have given you every 
herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, 
and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding 
seed; to you it shall be for meat.^^ Genesis, ch. 2, v. 15: 
"And the Lord God took the man and put him into the gar- 
den of Eden to dress it and to keep it.^' Now we see in the 
course God wished man to pursue there was a provision 
for him to live without hard labor in the event that he do 
his duty from the beginning and give attention to that which 
was placed in his charge. But as all things are perfect in 
the designs of the Creator, so that every necessity is sup- 
plied, and .every emergency calls forth its corresponding 
remedy, and all completed in the six days, the seed of the 
thorn, the thistle, and weeds were then placed in the bosom 
of the earth; and now we come to the declaration after the 
fall. Gen.; ch. 3: "And unto Adam he said. Because thou 
hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten 
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying. Thou shalt 
not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow 
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and 
thistles shall it bring forth to thee : and thou shalt eat the 
herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 77 

thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou re- 
turn/' Now, God knew that the premature knowledge of 
man would cause him to neglect the light duties imposed 
upon him, and follow up the horrible criminal lusts of the 
flesh, and the earth would become poisoned with these ob- 
noxious growths in consequence, and so declares it to both 
his physical and intellectual being : first, God knew man was 
so constituted that he would sooner or later realize by the 
consequences of this curse upon the earth that he would 
have to toil and labor for a subsistence, and that in a yet 
future day his educated reason would teach him that all of 
this condition was consequent upon his own miserable, vile, 
and heinous acts: as we can to a great extent even to-day. 
We also can see the wisdom and necessity of the curse upon 
the earth; for if man did not have of necessity to labor to 
sustain life, even at this age, his whole attention would be 
turned to the satisfying of the horrible lasts of the flesh, 
and we Avould retrograde and sink into a horrible state of 
debauchery. 

Now, in looking at these things and thinking truth- 
fully and without prejudice, can you not see how that the 
operations of these philosophic and physiological laws of 
God, which Ave call science, and our own intellectual reason 
guided by truth, wholly agree? Indeed, they are one and 
the same thing; only the mind of man, or reason, is God 
within us, by which we are enabled to study, know, and 
fully understand the operations of those laws, Avhich only 
means a continuous study of God, as well as to prepare this 
physical body as a dwelling-place for God: He, being invis- 
ible has chosen the body of man and is preparing it by a 
protracted, slow, but steady process, to be a more suitable 
and efficient body, by vdiich He will present Himself to His 



78 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

creatures: and this will be the nearest possible approxima- 
tion to a sight of the true God we can ever have, and thus 
we become gods of the earth to know aaid do all things 
pertaining thereto. 

In regard to these matters, I only ask both male and 
female to turn upon themselves the force of their reason- 
ing faculties and examine carefully for the Why? of all 
their secret actions even back to the days of early childhood. 
We must admit that so long as the child is kept ignorant 
of the real use and purposes of those organs, he or she is 
purer and more innocent; since without the influence of the 
mind they are less excited and more governable. And Ijy 
referring to the ignorance of childhood, the reader may be 
better able to gather my ideas of what man's state might 
have been had he not eaten the fruit of the tree of knowl- 
edge; though he carry out this first command to "multiply 
and replenish the earth.'' And as the child should be care- 
fully kept in ignorance of such things to a mature age, at 
which it is capable of controlling and appropriating those 
organs to their legitimate use, so man might have been 
kept in ignorance as regards an illegitimate or rather un- 
natural use of them, subject to the laws of instinct, to that 
period at which intellectual development would have enabled 
him to control the animal organism; when he evidently 
would have been allowed to eat of the tree of knowledge, or, 
in other words, to understand thoroughly all of the possible 
uses and powers of the physical man, both proper and im- 
proper, without being contaminated thereby. 

This knowledge not only led to an excessive use of the 
genital organs in a legitimate way, but rendered man, both 
male and female, insatiable; causing them to transcend the 
natural use and pervert them to a mogt horrible abuge iu 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 79 

search of some means to satisfy this premature and mis- 
guided knowledge, which was the means of producing un- 
natural and vile affections, such as are mentioned in the 
first chapter of Eomans, and caused them to become idol 
worshipers, since they did forget the true and living God. 
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and 
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God in an image 
made like to corruptible m'an, and to birds, and four-footed 
beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them 
up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, 
to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who. 
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and 

served the creature more than the Creator For 

this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even 
their women did change. the natural use into that which is 
against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the nat- 
ural use of the women, burned in their lusts one toward an- 
other; men with men working that which is unseemly, and 
receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which 
was meet.^^ All of this furnishes us with a most philosophic 
and clearly a physiological reason why, as is said in the 
eighteenth chapter of Leviticus, that "the land itself vom- 
iteth out her inhabitants.^^ By this premature and forbid- 
den knowledge was produced the horrible crime of sodomy, 
for which Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed by fire and 
brimstone — a direct and appalling act of the God of heaven. 
The heinous and horrifying crimes and sins of the nations 
of the earth, which caused them to set up idols and bow to 
the superstitious imaginations of their minds, grew out of 
the effort to satisfy by any and every conceivable means 
this unbriflled and demoniacal lust of the flesh. The nations 
were all filled with those horrible crimes; nor is th^ worM 



80 Tiuo Thousand Years i7i Eternity. 

yet free, even among what is called the enlightened people; 
nor Avill it be until, under a rigid paternal government, the 
minds of future generations be kept ignorant of even a pos- 
sibility of such heinous acts. 

While the commands, examples, and declarations of 
God from the beginnmg were national, the nations of the 
earth will not be free and innocent till they return to that 
state of perfect ignorance of crime and disobedience which 
was indicated in the garden; and man's carnal knowledge 
consumed, as it were, by the Spirit of Almighty God. This 
state is j)ossible to-day with individuals, but many times will 
the sword, famine, and pestilence, as sore judgments and re- 
fining tires of the God of heaven, be called forth to afriict the 
nations ere the world is brought to that state of innocence 
and perfection to which it must attain. 

]N"ow, there is little difference to us as to what the fruit 
of the tree of knowledge was, and the manner of Eve's eat- 
ing of it. We know its results, amd I hold as true that man 
had the power at that time to refrain and not disobey his 
Creator. And certainly all thinking men will agree that 
it is inconsistent and injustice to God to suppose that He 
had no way provided by which He could and would have 
transferred man from the creation beyond this animal pe- 
riod, free from such horrifying, unnatural, fleshly crime, 
and its consequent sorrow and degradation, had he obeyed 
the command of the Father. We must not conclude that 
because God foreknew man's disobedience and its conse- 
quent crime and misery it was in accordance with His 
will and original designs. The Bible is a record of what did 
occur, and not what might have been. And we do see a 
rearrangin.o; of His plans and work after the fall of Adam. 

But when the animal organism was once indulged, God 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. ' 81 

knew, and it is consistent with our reason, that at that state 
of intellectual weakness the power of self-control would 
be at once lost. And in support of this, we find the animal 
so strong in us to-day that the power of self-control is weak- 
ened and sometimes wholly lost by even a single indulgence 
in that which our intellect teaches us to be wrong. In the 
case of Adam, there having been but one thing required of 
him, and he losing self-control in thait, it became neces- 
sary, and God did cast him out and surround him with such 
circumstances as would require physical exertion sufficient 
to divert his attention from such continued, uninterrupted, 
and promiscuous indulgence as would cause the whole ani- 
mal kingdom to sink into one horrible uniform mass of de- 
caying matter, including man, who caused the lower animals 
to corrupt their way. 

Tt is wholly consistent that the animal man should have 
obeyed the commands placed in his physical nature on the 
sixth day of creation, and not transcended them; in which 
event he would have been guarded and guided instinctively 
in propagating his species as the lower animals, and this in- 
stinct is nothing more nor less than the direct operation 
of the Father in providing for His creatures; but it was the 
small spark of reason with which he was entrusted to raise 
him above the animal and make him finally an honorable 
and noble gentleman, which he abused and disregarded. 
And is he not doing the same to-day? Let every ma.n and 
woman examine their own hearts, and this question will be 
properly and forcibly answered. 

This then was the age of the reign of God the Father; 
since during that period he as an ignorant child could not 
control knowledge nor comprehend the word of God to gov- 
ern his actions through the requirements of life. But when 



82 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the intellect was sufficiently developed to suit the purposes 
of God, He began to convey His Word to man through cer- 
tain media, which was the beginning of the reign of the 
Son of God; for the Word of God is the Son oi God. This 
was also the beginning of the Intellectual period; and while 
it is evident to my mind that God intended the Father as 
the ruler of the first or Animal age, the Son to rule the In- 
tellectual, and the Holy Ghost to govern and perfect man 
during the third or Eternal age, it is also clear that had 
man not obtained that premature knowledge which led him 
astray and caused him to seek omnipotence among tangible 
and perishable things, he might have passed from one 
stage to another — indeed^ would have done so, without those 
appalling convulsions of N'ature which became necessary to 
point out and prove to him the true and almighty God of 
the universe in order to prepare him as the intelligent agent 
which God required; for man would not have performed the 
work and obeyed the commands of a God whom he knew not, 
and hence the fearful determination manifested through 
the Scriptures by the repeated declaration: "They shall 
know that / am God. Beside me there is none other. '^ 

'Now, it is evident that to cairry out God's great designs 
it was necessary that the name and knowledge of the true 
God be firmly fixed in the heart of man at his age of intel- 
ligence, that he might understand and be governed by the 
commands through the Spirit, and for this purpose He pro- 
vided a channel of "elect," who were also called "sons of 
God." Genesis, ch. 6: "And it came to pass when men be- 
gan to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters 
were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters 
of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all 
T^hich they chose/' beginning with "righteous Abel" and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 83 

Seth, and traceable on down — down through the corridors of 
time, till the kingdom of heaven was established and ihe 
Spirit of God began to reign in the hearts of men, at which 
time the necessity ceased and their work ended; and now all 
who are guided by that Spirit are sons of God, as was Jesus 
the Christ. Of course, at this early age of the world we are 
vastly inferior in point of perfection. And that to establish 
this condition in the human family was the great object of 
God is clearly shown through all the history of His operations 
from the creation on down to the end of the second world, 
which system consisted in a continuous chain of evidences 
of various kinds suited to the different stages of man's un- 
derstanding, and ever presented in such a light as to show 
a most brilliant contrast between the powers of the God of 
heaven and the earthly idols before which poor benighted 
m^an submissively bowed. Indeed, we may say truthfully 
that the whole of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testa- 
ment, is mainly a record of the most convincing testimony in 
favor of the God of heaven and against the gods of the 
earth. Nor have we any foundation on which to base an 
opinion that this work would have been necessary had man 
been obedient to the command and governed by the same 
laws of instinct as other animals during the long period 
prior to his intellectual development. This, however, being 
a matter of no consequence, sufficient to know that it was 
necessary, and that for this work of preserving the name of 
God among men a superior class of men sprang or was raised 
up from Adam, or we may say, properly, Seth, and were the 
elect or selected for the purposes, and called sons of God; 
and from the best system of chronology, however incorrect, 
it may be, and is beyond a doubt, the world which then was 
did not stand long after this class of people, who were to 



84 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

be the witn(^sses of God^ began to be corrupted by the daugh- 
ters of meii^ which was about the fifteenth century, and the 
world was destroyed by the flood less than two hundred 
years thereafter. In the next verse the Lord said: "My 
Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is 
flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.'' 
During which time the wickedness of man was so great on the 
earth that there were but eight souls in the family of Noah 
unconlamiuated, who also would have fallen victims to the 
corrupting element with which they were surrounded, but 
for the timely intervention of the great and invincible Wit- 
ness and emblem of God's eternal power. 

As evidence of the above, as well ?,s what was said on 
former pages relative to diverting the mind of man from car-. 
nal lust, 1 quote Genesis, ch. 6, vs. 5-6 : "And God saw that 
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that ev- 
ery imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil 
continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made 
man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." And in 
the next verse the Lord said: "J will destroy man, whom I 
have created, from the face of the earth ;both man, and beast, 
and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it re- 
penteth me that I have made them." And hence we see 
that God did intend to sweep all, both man and beast, from 
the face of the earth, 'Noah not excepted until he "found 
grace in the eyes of the Lord," Who then placed it in his 
mind to prepare the ark; and in due time the mighty waters 
purged the earth and swept away all evil influences, leaving 
N'oah and his family confirmed believers in the God of 
heaven, though still in possession of that knowledge which 
their intellect as yet was unable to control. 

Kow this was the end of the old world spoken of by Pe- 



Two Tliousand Years in Eternity. 85 

ter in his second Epistle (ch. 2, vs. 4-5) : "For if God spared 
not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and 
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved nnto 
judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Xoah, 
the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in 
the flood upon the world of the ungodly.'^ And it was the 
end of that period of man wholly animal of which there is 
but little said in the Scriptures, although it lasted perhaps 
two thousand years, l^ow while I desire you to remember 
for future purposes that the world thus destroyed was 
called the "Old World,^^ I feel no fear of successful contra- 
diction when I say that the one of which Noah and his fam- 
ily were the seed of population was a New World, which 
also in course of time became old, and was laid away accord- 
ing to prophecy, and a third was introduced. In this first 
appalling destruction of the world, the wrath of God shook 
the earth, but there has been nothing said about disturbing 
the heavens, because, as I can see clearly, the intellect of man 
had not been sufficiently developed to justify and accom- 
plish God^s purposes by molesting the dwelling-place of the 
spirits, but we will see further .on that at the second de- 
struction of the world He shook not only the earth, but the 
heavens were also shaken and cleansed preparatory for the 
rule of the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God — God himself. 

We see now that water was the agent of overwhelming 
testimony of the God of heaven to all who survived its sub- 
limely terrific wave. So we will see further on, at the end 
of what we term the Intellectual age, that the spilling of 
blood was the uncompromising flame and emblem which 
destroyed the world the second time, with the nations who 
would not accept the God of heaven through the testimony 
of His Word ; so also in this the third stage of the earth, tlie 



b6 Two Thousand Years in Eterniiy. 

Spirit of the living God, the Spirit of Truth, is to consume 
with unerring certainty every influence of the carnal man, 
and the least and last vestige of opposition to the will of 
God; at which time He will he "all and in all/' and the 
work complete with every design carried out, when the will of 
God will ^^e done on earth as it is done in heaven,'^ though 
poor mortality have yet to pay many a heavy debt of sor- 
row and anguish because of his carnal inclinations. There 
is yet much work for the sword ; "it cannot rest" ; and in this 
connection, being assured that all unrighteousness and evil 
will be burned up from among men, we must not forget that 
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and so on. 
We must also remember. He has declared, saying by the 
prophet, "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve 
thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 
For the glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, 
the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place 
of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glo- 
rious. . . . And they shall call thee. The city of the 
Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah, ch. 60.) 
The above quotation is sufficient, but the entire chapter, 
as well as the whole book of Isaiah, shows that this declara- 
tion was made in speaking of the New World, after eternal 
life wais planted on the earth by Jesus the Christ, the Holy 
One of Israel, and all men were and are to be governed by 
the Spirit of God, which is this third stage of man on the 
earth unquestionably; and in speaking of this Eternal period 
the prophet Isaiah also said: "Thy people also shall be all 
righteous: thev shall inherit the land for ever, the branch 
of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glori- 
fied." And by virtue of this principle of eternal life planted 
in man, this work is constantly going on and will finally de- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 87 

stroy all unrighteousness. And just here please indulge me 
for a moment to call your attention to the conversation be- 
tween Jesus and Martha, prompted by the death of her 
brother Lazarus (John, ch. 11): "Jesus said unto her, I am 
the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and be- 
lieveth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?'^ And 
as Jesus asked her the question, so ask yourself, "Believ- 
est thou this ?*^ Decide the question in your own heart, and 
cease to look with terror to the grave, knowing that all who 
believe in the true and living God, through Jesus the Christ, 
the "Tree of Life," will never die, but drop the bod}^ and 
soar away in this continuous eternal life. The resurrection 
does not apply to us who believe, but to those who died be- 
fore the advent of Christ, to whom He preached after He 
was crucified. John (ch. 5) says: "Verily, verily, I say unto 
you. The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall 
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall 
live.'' 1st Peter (ch. 3, vs. 18-19, and ch. 4, v. 6) talks plain^ 
ly on this subject and said : "For Christ also hath once suf- 
fered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring 
us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened 
by the Spirit : by which also he went and preached unto the 
spirits in prison For for this cause was the gos- 
pel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be 
judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to 
God in the spirit." 

Let your mind revert to this declaration as you read on 
through the work, a,nd see if you cannot realize that there 
is no more death to the believer, no future judgment, only 
a change from this chrysalis state ; and that in reality Christ 
was the great key that opened up to man the eternal exist- 



88 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ence of happiness, perhaps as far beyond the reach of death 
as God himself. 

But we must turn again to the great and majestic Flood 
— the water which swept away everything that breathed the 
breath of life outside the ark, and entered largely into the 
compound constituting the "Faithful Witness'^ to man of 
the only true God. For while Noah labored faithfully 
and patiently one hundred and twenty years, according to 
the command instinctively given him to prepare the ark, 
he knew not certainly that he was obeying the God of heav- 
en, or a weird idea of his own imagination, and yet he 
waited, and toiled patiently amid the festivities and rev- 
elry of his fellow-creatures, until the overwhelming witness 
came; the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the 
ark began to float upon the endless and boundless watery 
waste, where death terrific — ^yea, stupendously appalling, 
reigned without a shadow of opposition, till all animate 
nature lay hushed and still, and there was no life to be 
found save in the ark of God. Then he knew — ^yea, the fact 
was conclusive, that the command was from God; that he 
was rocked in the lap of his Creator — a chosen vessel and 
in the hands of the Euler of the universe. 

Noah was now convinced, as was Jeremiah when Haii- 
ameel, his uncle's son, came to sell the field of Anathoth, 
and shows brilliantly the difference between faith and 
knowledge. Jeremiah, ch. 32: "The word of the Lord 
came unto me, saying. Behold, Hanameel the son of Shal- 
lum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my 
field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is 
thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to 
me in the court of the prison according to the word of the 
Lord, and said unto me, "Buy my field, I pray thee, that 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 89 

is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for 
the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is 
thine; bu}^ it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the 
word of the Lord. And 1 bought the field." And Jere- 
miah was now convinced for the first time and knew he 
was a prophet from God. So Noah worked by faith one 
hundred and twenty years, and when the Flood came, his 
faith became knowledge, nor was it possible to ever erad- 
icate this knowledge from the mind of Noah and his fam- 
ily; and not only so, but so great and conclusive was this 
evidence that its influence was to be felt and clearly trace- 
able upon generations who were to arise thousands of years 
subsequent. What is its impression on you to-day? My 
answer is, Yea, it was the Father, and the w?aiter was His 
invincible witness, and the day of faith has passed with me. 



90 Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

The Beginni7ig of the Second Period of Man. 

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted 
of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempt- 
eth he any man : but every ' man is tempted, when he is 
drawn away of his own lusts, and enticed/^ (James, ch. 1, 
vs. 13-14.) 

Now while this shows that God did not intend the tree 
of knowledge to be a temptation to Adam or Eve in the 
garden. His subsequent acts and commands also show that 
it was His desire to remove temptation from before man, 
and hence at the beginning of this new era of intelligence 
God assisted him by destroying all wickedness from the 
face of the earth, and removed every example and obstacle 
in the way of obedience. What more could man ask than 
this second new start with his carnal nature and fleshly 
lust, when his ultimate destiny was to be a god? But on 
and after, during this second period, we see this will of 
God manifested by commainding His people to kill every- 
thing that breathed, and to destroy every article that might 
prove an example of evil in the land they went to possess. 
And the places in the Bible are too numerous to mention 
where God told the Israelites to kill every man, woman, 
and child of every nation they captured, to destroy their 
vessels, and throw away their gold; and thus do away with 
everything that might be a temptation to them. This they 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 91 

had the power to do; but instead of trustmg to the wisdom 
of God, they deemed themselves fully competent to repel 
evil influeiices, and took the responsibility of keeping among 
them the element by which they were contaminated. Oth- 
erwise they would have possessed the land in peace and hap- 
piness, to the gradual extermination of all wickedness from 
the face of the earth. 

This disobedience necessitated another sweeping de- 
struction by the sword, immediately before opening up and 
establishing the third world under the administration of 
the Spirit, which again brought wickedness within the con- 
trol of the obedient people of God; in which destruction 
the blood of the nations drenched the earth, and testified 
that it was the Word of God embodied in Jesus the Christ; 
and removed all obstacles in the way of the reign of the 
Spirit. This bloody destruction was first pronounced against 
the world, from the throne of heaven, the year that King 
Ahaz died, and made known to Isaiah; it was the important 
epoch in the vision of Daniel, which resulted in the set- 
ting up of the kingdom by the God of heaven when the 
Antichrist was to be *T)roken without hands." Daniel (ch. 
8) said : ^'The vision of the evening and the morning which 
was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it 
shall be for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was 
sick certain days; afterward I rose up and did the king's 
business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none un- 
derstood it." Jesus also spoke of it with great emphasis — 
indeed, it was the most prominent feature m His gospel, 
but He knew not the exact time of its coming; the events 
of which are more particularly described by John in the 
book of Eevelation. But w^e must return again to the be- 
ginning of this new world in order to trace more particu- 



92 Tvjo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

larly the operations of the Creator with His creatures. And 
I would have you bear in mind that this period of which 
we are about to speak is what I have denominated the In- 
tellectual; beginning with man's capability to understand 
to some extent the Word, or a command of God, and end- 
ing with the improved condition of the intellect by which 
the operation of the Spirit of God was discernible, that by 
it man would be made more and yet more intelligent, per- 
haps for ever, 8.nd perfect him in every way. 

Turn now to Genesis, chapter 8, and see in the opening 
of this period where Noah b'uilded an altar unto the Lord 
and worshiped: "And the Lord said in his heart, I will 
not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for 
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth ; nei- 
ther will I again smite any more every thing living, as I 
have done." We see in chapter 9 that now God places upon 
every beast of the field and fowl of the air — in shorty upon 
the whole animal kingdom, the fear and dread of man by 
whom they were corrupted during the first stage of the 
world, saying: "And the fear of you and the dread of you 
shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl 
of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon 
all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered." 
And further, that He now makes a covenant with Noah 
and his family and with all the animal kingdom, and the 
bow was set in the cloud as a token of the covenant for 
^'perpetuaT' generations. 

Upon a close examination of all the decla-rations of 
God, taking them in their connection with His work as 
shown through the Scriptures, there is not one paragraph 
in the Sacred Book that justifies a single idea, in my mind, 
of obliteration of the earth. Nor is there to be found any- 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 93 

thing to Avarrant an opinion that, in the second great de- 
struction or burning of the earth, all mankind and the an- 
imal kingdom should be destroyed from off its face. I do 
not say that the earth will never be blotted out of exist- 
ence in the immense futurity, for I know not; but I do say 
that if the God of the universe contemplates such an ap- 
palling act. He has never made it known to His creatures 
on the earth up to this date; and the evidences are all in 
favor of the earth standing forever inhabited by human 
beings. In Isaiah, chapter 45, the following decla^ration is 
made: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; 
God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath 
established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be 
inhabited: I am the Lord and there is none else/' In chap- 
ter 49: "Thus saith the Lord, In ain acceptable time have 
I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: 
and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the 
desolate heritages.'^ In this entire chapter you find the 
declaration that the Messiah, or Holy One of Israel, was 
given for the purpose of establishing the earth, and cer- 
tainly to the mind of any reasoning man it would be but 
prepared to begin an existence in accordance with the de- 
signs of the Creator. But we will endeavor to present the 
evidence to support the above opinion in the future of this 
work. 

In favor of the final and total destruction of the earth, 
I call your attention to the Epistle to the Hebrews (ch. 1), 
as follows: "x\nd. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid 
the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works 
of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou renminest; and 
they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture 



94 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou 
art the same, and thy years shall not fail." 

Perhaps in support of this premature opinion, we find 
as much written by the apostle Peter, as he was a man ad- 
dicted to strong phraseology. In his second Epistle (ch. 3) 
he said: ^'The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
night: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be 
burned up.'^ Upon an examination of this subject you. will 
find that Paul and Peter both are speaking of ^'the great 
day of the Lord," the "indignation," "the end of the world,'' 
"the consumption," the great destruction of Antichrist, 
spoken of by Daniel, also by Christ, who said He knew not 
the time of its coming, and was constantly expected by the 
apostles and all of the disciples; but they knew no more 
about the manner of its execution than did the prophets, 
who said they did not understand the vision further than 
there was to be a terrific destruction among all the nations 
of the earth, and we of to-day have as good right to read 
the prophecy and to understand it as they. Why not ? John, 
in the book of Pevelation (chapter 16), speaks of the same 
event in the following manner, as he saw it in the vision. 
After the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, 
and the great voice was heard out of the temple of heaven, 
saying, "It is done," then said he : "There were voices, and 
thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, 
such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty 
an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divid- 
ed into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and 
great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give 
unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath/^ 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 95 

The earth was the ^"^great city/' and scientists may go back 
to this mighty earthquake to date the separation of the 
Western from the Eastern Continent aaid the islands, and 
they can find no other. But Babylon was the world, for all 
nations did go under her yoke, as we will see portrayed- 
more clearly further on in the dream of ISTebuchadnezzar 
interpreted by Daniel. And Jeremiah was ordered to take 
the wine-cup of the wrath and fury of Almighty God, and 
to cause the nations to drink to whom the Lord sent him, 
which were (Jeremiah, ch. 25) : "To-wit, Jerusalem, and 
the cities of Jiidah, and the kings thereof, and the' princes 
thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an 
hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; Pha-raoh king of 
Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 
and all the mingled people, and' all the kings of the land 
of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and 
Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remtaant of Ash- 
dod, Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, and 
all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the 
kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, Dedan, and 
Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, and 
all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the minglerl 
people that dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, 
and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, 
and all the Icings of the north, far and near, one ivith another, 
and all the hingdoms of the luorld, ivhicli are upon the face 
of the earth: and the king of vSheshach shall drink after 
them." Please remember the judgment that was declared 
through the Scriptures should begin at the house of the 
Lord, and that Jerusalem was the first ordered to drink of 
the "wine-cup" in this list. 

Now turn to Peter's second Epistle (chapter 3), whero 



96 Two TJiousand Years in Eternity. 

he declared as above, or previously given, that the earth 
should be burned up and all things therein, and you will 
see that immediately after using the strong language which 
we quoted, he says: "Nevertheless we, according to his 
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness/^ 

In the days of ignorance prior to the coming of Christ, 
it w^as impossible for man to be righteous in the true sense 
of the word, for he was not sufficiently developed to com- 
prehend equitable and just dealing. Abraham believed 
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness; and 
called by the apostles the "righteousness of faith" : not acts, 
for he was incapable of them; but he steadfastly believed a 
nation was to spring from him. as an example to the world, 
which belief was placed in his heart by the Spirit of God, 
and forced upon his offspring from generation to gener- 
ation; and this was the blessing transferred from one to the 
other, to be carefully guarded; and Jacob virtually stole it 
from his brother. But Jesus taught righteousness in the 
true spirit of the word, for the ]eurpose of establishing the 
earth under an intellectual rule guided by the Spirit of God. 

We now return to some of the primary events of this 
Intellectual period presided over by the "Word," or Son 
of God, during, and at the end of which, "Blood" was the 
great witness to testify on earth among men proving the 
omnipotence and omniscience of the God of heaven. We 
must bear in mind that in the beginning of this work we 
held that the great object of God was to preserve His name 
upon the earth during the period of man's ignorance, and 
establish it with him w^hen his intelligence had so far ad- 
vanced as to render it impossible to obliterate from his 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 97 

mind a philosophic understanding and knowledge of the 
God who made him. 

This philosophic knowledge was conveyed to man after 
he conld begin to understand a command, or law, by con- 
trasting the result of obedience and disobedience in a long 
series of examples; and hence the ' Israelites as the chosen 
people of God, and their object and mission. Further on 
we find the Lord adopting the method of foretelling events, 
years before they transpire, which no other god could do; 
and hence the prophets and their use, to and through whom 
the Word of God came, and the law also complete for man's 
government. This was not the case in the first period, for 
we find during that time communications and commands 
from the Father to certain of His elect, but not for promul- 
gation; and indeed this state of affairs existed during the 
primary part of the second period, several hundred years, 
to the days of Moses; during which time the will and com- 
mancls of God were made known to certain ones in the chan- 
nel of His elect, for certain purposes; who, being sufficient- 
ly developed, and prepared of God, were held responsible 
for the government of their families, and entrusted with the 
carrying out of His designs. 

Permit me to say just here, relative to this paternal 
government, that it was never abolished; and that to-day 
its importance is greater, and the responsibilities of beads 
of families to God continually increase under the auspices 
of the eternal Spirit of Truth. 

There is another attribute of God we must consider in 
this place in order to appreciate the goodness and mercy 
as well as the just dealing of the Creator with His creat- 
ures: this is His foreknowledge. Foreknowledge is one 
thing; and the execution of certain designs is another, and 



98 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

altogether different. While Grod foreknew all things, do 
not oyerlook the important matter that man did not^ and 
that God was capable in all instances of acting toward man 
as though he knew nothing beyond the present. None but 
a god can do this; and there is no better mark of wisdom 
thain for the learned to act and speak in a manner intelli- 
gible to the more ignorant. God in His dealings with man 
did; and hence He was capable, and did judge and for- 
give men for transgressions done to-day, when He knew the 
same would be repeated to-morrow; He commanded when 
He knew man would not obey; He warned him of approach- 
ing danger; yea, plead and repeated His pleadings when 
He knew that man would revel before the approaching de- 
stroyer, and portrayed the misery and death when it would 
be looked upon with scorn and derision. 

Men ask. Why was this? Because God is just, and 
Avhile He gave to human beings the necessary power to obey 
the simple commands given in the days of their weakness, 
which would have kept their eyes closed to their unneces- 
sary fleshly lust, and they chose rather to take upon them- 
selves a responsibility they were not able to bear, which led 
to sin and disaster; God continued to command them for 
their welfare, and castigate them for disobedience, till they 
realized the peace and happiness consequent upon obedi- 
ence to the will of the Master. Paul said to the Hebrews 
(eh. 12): "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to 
be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth 
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are 
exercised thereby.'' This is very plain, and applicable to 
man in that age, when the human family was sorely and 
almost constantly afRicted with war and famine for dis- 
obedience. Therefore God must act in all matters pertain- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 99 

ing to man according to the measure of his intelligence, 
so that the creature may comprehend all of the require- 
ments of the Creator from time to time, and have no ground 
for accusation of injustice. God knows from His well- 
arranged system of operation, that in all futurity those who 
obey His commands will obtain peace, happiness, and life; 
while those who disobey bring upon themselves sorrow, 
misery, and death. Man was made to know as much, and 
had power commensurate with the requirements, as he has 
to-day; but would not exercise it till the lash of evil conse- 
quences was laid upon him sore and heavy. God and sin are 
uncompromisingly antagonistic, and hence He has no power 
over wiekedenss, except to punish and destroy; and in like 
manner He cannot punish righteousness, obedience, and 
truth, for it is a part of Himself; and hence we may in a 
philosophic manner understand His forgiving nature, and 
how obedience to His will appeases His wrath; and hence 
the instruction of Christ, to forgive "not only seven times, 
but seventy times seven,^^ which only can mean, as often 
as forgiveness is asked, which is God-like, and we must be 
like Him. 

In looking over the works of this period, we must not 
consider it injustice in God to provide against a failure in 
His great objects and designs, though individuals and na- 
tions signally fail in carrying out that part of the work 
assigned tbem. Nay, God could not fail, though man had 
Ix^en swept from off the earth, and it was His foreknowl- 
edge that enabled Him to provide against it; otherwise His 
name would have been obliterated from among men, and 
total destruction supervened. 

Now man, according to his system of reasoning, be- 
lieves that which he can not avoid believing, or rather, he 



100 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

believes that only which is forced upon his understanding 
by that system of reasoning given him by his Creator; and 
in no instance did nor does God require man to believe His 
Word without good and sufficient evidence, given sooner or 
later to the perfect satisfaction of his understanding. So 
with individuals; so also with nations. 

Through this period the operations of God were na- 
tional; and while he used and spoke through individuals, 
it was to nations and for national purposes. And as He be- 
gan at that time to speak to man in such language as Ava^ 
intelligible to those with whom He spoke, we must, accord- 
ing to our understanding, call such communication the 
"Word of God,^^ which, being a direct production of God, 
was necessarily also, according to that same system of rea- 
soning, the "Son of God.^'' 

This "Word'' first came to Moses at "the mountain of 
God, even Horeb.^^ (Exod., ch. 3, v. 1.) And in order that 
he might the better understand, it was necessary that it 
have a visible body, and hence it was clothed with a "flame 
of fir e,^^ out of which "the voice of the living God spake and 
commanded His servant Moses." 

Now whether this communication and body of flame 
was- an imaginary thing, brought about by the operation of 
the Spirit of God on the mind of His servant, is wholly 
immaterial, since it accomplished His purposes through 
Moses, who thus understood it; but we at this intelligent 
age must exercise reason enough to know that no living 
man has ever heard the direct voice of God, and the Bible 
so proves, and is philosophic. 

This was the first body with which the "Word,'' the 
governing agent of this period, was clad, and began its 
career with demonstrative evidence that it was the "Word 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 101 

of God'^; and thus continued ^^roving and glorif3dng Him 
to the days of Jesus^ Who was the "begotten" Son of God 
(and we will not stop here to speak of the manner of His 
begetting) and understood correctly the will of the Father 
through His Spirit, and conveyed that knowledge to man 
in a perfect manner, and the only One who did. We must 
know that all others, the twelve apostles not excepted, were 
liable to err to a greater or less extent in teaching the will 
of God; for since Jesus was also a man of flesh and blood. 
He was especially guarded by the angels of the Lord at all 
times, that He be kept a perfect example to the people, and 
a vessel pure as a dwelling-place of God; and hence His 
o^vn human spirit never prompted His actions, but was sac- 
rificed and lay dormant, while the Spirit of God in Him 
was the moving spring of all His actions and dictated His 
phraseology. 

While we hold that the great object of God^s operations 
as shown in the Bible was to establish His name among 
men and nations, so that all should know Him, from the 
least to the greatest, and thus be fitted for His purpose, 
we must review the work in detail and determine the object 
of His agents and subagents. 

First, the "Word," the direct medium of communica- 
tion and command, being infallibly true, is a part of God 
himself, for "God is truth," the object of which needs no 
conmient. Moses was certainly next to the Word; yes, al- 
most the Word itself: indeed, he was to Aaron. See Ex- 
odus, chapter 4, and read the instruction. Speaking of 
Aaron, the Lord said: "He shall be to thee instead of a 
mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God." .The 
communication is very direct, and the intimacy surprising, 
as shown through the entire life and work of Moses; 1 ut, 



102 Tvjo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

we must remember that he was highly educated and his 
brain well prepared to understand philosophic operations 
and receive the impressions of that intellectual Spirit, and 
the whole business of his life was to teach stupid heathens 
who the true God was. In the third chapter of Exodus, 
verse 10, God said to Moses: "Come now therefore, and I 
will send thee unto Pharaoli, that thou mayest bring forth 
my people the children of Israel out of Egypt." Here we 
see the object for which Moses was raised up briefly but 
clearly stated; and while he knew that some great Spirit 
\vas operating upon him, and, as he believed, instructing 
him in his duty and a great undertaking, he did not know 
the name of that power operating on him which he recog- 
nized as superior and feared; and he questioned that spirit 
within him (ch. 3) as regards an appropriate name and said : 
"Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall 
say unto them. The God of your fathers hath sent me unto 
you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall 
I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I Am That I 
Am: And he said. Thus shalt thou say unto the children 
of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." And hence I AM 
was the first name given to God, and Moses gave it, and 
used it with Israel. By examining carefully and further, 
we find that Moses was not only to bring the Israelites out 
of bondage and lead them to that "good land flowing ^dth 
milk and honey," but that he was to keep them in the wil- 
derness isolated from all other people, that they might for- 
get the habits and customs of the heathen, and teach them 
something of the power and wisdom of that God who 
claimed them as His people. And for this purpose Moses 
was clothed with certain powers of the God of heaven, by 
which he was to perform such miraculous work before and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 103 

in favor of Israel, and against the heathen, as transcended 
the powers of the magicians and the gods of the earth. And 
as God*had proven His Word to the perfect satisfaction, 
and confirmation of Himself in the mind of Moses, by afflict- 
ing him with leprosy and instantly restoring him, and the 
transformation of the rod into a serpent, so Moses was to 
be the agent through which God opera,ted, to prove and es- 
tablish the same knowledge in the minds of Israel, that they 
might fear the God of heaven and obey the laws He intend- 
ed to give them; and hence, as "the law was onr school- 
master to bring ns nnto Christ,^' so was Moses our school- 
master to bring us (or Tsrael) unto the law. And we see 
very philosophic exercise of an intellectual mind in all of 
his decisions. 

We see, also, that as God foretold events of the future 
to prove to all subsequent generations that the commands 
aud declarations were from Him, He also said to Moses 
when He sent him to Egypt to bring Israel out, in order 
that he might know the Lord had truly sent him (Exodus, 
ch. 3, V. 2) : "And this shall be a token unto thee, that I 
have sent thee: When thou ha^t brought forth the people 
out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." And 
thus you will see that God does not through His entire 
work require man to believe anything without good reason 
and subsequent conclusive proof. 

In all the courses of Moses, we see his reason was good 
and his decisions were wise, and Israel had to know that 
those decisions and declarations were from God; and so they 
were. I will only speak of one instance in his career to show 
the greatness of this man. When they came to the wil- 
derness of Paran, close to the borders of the promised land, 
he sent out men to examine this land of Canaan into which 



104 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

they were about to enter, and (see Numbers, chs. 13-14), 
they retiTrned after forty days' search, and brought the fin- 
est of fruit, and said: "We came unto the la;nd whither 
thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey: 
and this is the fruit of it/' The land was good enough, and 
all that it had been represented; but when the spies said: 
"ISTevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, 
and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we 
saw the children of Anak there. . . . And there we saw 
the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and 
we were in our own sight as gTasshoppers, and so we were 
in their sight/' Then the people began to fear, and mur- 
mur, and some Avished they were back in Egyptian bondage, 
others wished they had died in the wilderness, and none but 
Caleb and Joshua were willing to go with Moses; and when 
he saw the conduct of the multitude and heard their mur- 
muring, his good sense taught him that the two years they 
had been in the wilderness, witnessing the power of God, 
was not sufficient education to the grown men of that 
heathen people, who v'pre little better than brutes; and he 
saw in a moment that the only way to possess that good 
land was to turn back in the wilderness and there wander 
about nntil all the grown ones died off, and he raised up 
and educated another generation, who would go fearlessly 
with him and merit the promises of God; and he spoke to 
them in the following language : "As truly as I live, saith 
the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to 
you: 3^our carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all 
that were numbered of you, according to your whole num- 
ber, from twenty years old and upward, Avhich have mur- 
mured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land 
concerning which I sware to make vou dwell therein, save 



Two TJiousand Years in Eternity. 105 

Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 
But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them 
will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have 
despised. But as for you. your carcasses, they shall fall in 
this wilderness." Moses, as you see, told them that God 
said these things; and I ask you, AVas it so? Yes, it was 
God who placed in his mind that intellectual reason, as he 
does in men to-day; and the difference is that Moses attrib- 
uted his knowledge to the proper source, while many learned 
men of to-day give themselves credit and glory for their 
mental ability. 

We Avill now look at the object and duties of Israel, the 
national agent for whom Moses was raised up as a teacher. 
God intended Israel as an example to all other nations when 
He made the covenant mth Abraham. God the Father 
and God the Son taught by example ; and while it evidently 
was the intention of God to bring Christ of the seed of 
Abraham to be the "Tree of Life" to all the people of the 
earth, He surely did not refer to that when He made the 
covenant, nor did Abraham so understand it; but only ex- 
pected to possess the land of Canaan, and that his seed be 
multiplied as the stars of heaven. The covenant is con- 
tained in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis: "The word of 
the Lord cam;e unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, 
Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 
And Abram said. Lord God, what wilt thou give me, see- 
ing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eli- 
ezer of Damascus T And Abram said, Behold, to me thou 
hast given no seed: and lo, one born in mine house is mine 
heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, 
saying. This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come 
forth out of thine own bowels shall be tliine heir. And he 



106 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward 
heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number thera: 
and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed 
in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness."' 
x\nd to this end he understood and believed the Lord, and 
it was counted to him for righteousness. This is plain, 
since man at that age was not caipable of righteous acts, or 
works; but he steadily looked forward to the increase of his 
offspring, and that they should possess that good land. In 
the thirteenth verse he even tells Abraham, of the four hun- 
dred years of Egyptian bondage, by saying : "Know of ' a 
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is 
not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them 
four hundred years.'' And thus far God evidently intended 
to perform the work. Conditional, that they steadfastly 
believe in him; though they perform not the works of right- 
eousness, further than the act of Abraham, offering his son 
Isaac, which was only a test of his faith, by which he was 
justified. 

I hope you will excuse a short pause here to examine 
more closely the covenant with Abraham, and how it was 
vicAved by the apostle Paul; that we may the better under- 
stand the regular and progressive operations of God, Who 
never failed to accomplish His objects, though many of His 
agents fell short in performing their part, and some failed 
entirely. Nor did God in this period speak to His agents 
of things they could not understand, until after the failure 
of the Jews, and the decree went forth that they should 
be blinded and used as a tool in His hands, in working for 
His own name and glory (but you must learn to understand 
that these edicts and decrees were written upon the tablet 
of the brain of human beings). And in this connection, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 107 

bear in mmd and meditate: that while the '^^tree of life" 
was a prominent feature in the garden of Eden, the cross 
on which the Messiah died was nowhere to be found. This 
is additional evidence that the carrying out of the original 
designs of God did not necessitate the death of Christ, and 
that while He knew the wickedness of the people would 
bring it about, there could have been no good result in 
mentioning it at that time. So also in the covenant with 
Abraham: while God knew that Christ would come of his 
seed, and be the medium of eternal life to man, it was use- 
less to mention it to him, and hence he spoke of a more im- 
mediate and preparator}^ blessing: which was a promise of 
a son in his old days, through whom his seed should be 
traced and become as numerous "as the stars of heaven," 
and by their example convert the families of the earth from 
heathenism, and establish with them a knowledge of the 
God of heaven preparatory for the more perfect teaching 
of Christ, and thus prove a great blessing to all nations, 
and receive as their reward the land for their inheritance. 
But Israel failed signally and unquestionabty, and were 
worse than other nations of the earth, and God brought sal- 
vation by His own hand. 

We now come to speak of unpleasant things : and when 
I say there are some discrepancies in the Scriptures, I hope 
you will not brand me as a sacrilegious heathen till you hear 
me through; for no one regrets to find those things more 
than thyself. I am an ardent believer in God and the plan 
of salvation through Jesus the Christ, and look with great 
pleasure and admiration on the designs of the Creator and 
the harmonious manner of executing them. 

But we must bear in mind that the apostles and proph- 
ets, notwithstanding they were inspired and endowed with 



108 , Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

superhuman powers for certain purposes, were but human 
beings, finite and fallible, and they did commit errors; and 
in many respects their understanding was not clear, even 
while Jesus was with them. There was no one more highly 
favored of God than Moses, and he made a grievous mis- 
take at the waters of Meribah. We must look upon them 
as fallible beings possessed of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of 
Truth, as a guide to their understanding, as it is with us; 
only they had additional power under the circumstances 
to work miracles to prove to the heathen and unbeliever the 
power of the true God, which added nothing to their nat- 
ural ability. Bat so long as they were wholly governed by 
that Spirit in all that they said and did they were correct, 
and so are men to-day; but they were liable at times to use 
their knowledge, and appeal to their own system of reason- 
ing alone, while instructing the people; and Paul acknowl- 
edged to having done this in some instances, and circum- 
stances go to prove that others did also. Peter did not 
clearly understand the intellectual principle in Christ's 
teaching, and showed his stupidity by wanting the heathen 
circum^cised when they were converted, and I call your at- 
tention by way of example of the apostles' reasoning, to cer- 
tain expressions, such as "I was in the Spirit" on some cer- 
tain occasion, or, ^'I was filled with the Spirit,'' while at 
other times they said they spoke "after the manner of 
men": which shows they were not always in the same con- 
dition, and that they were better prepared for the work at 
times and under certain circumstances, and so have we more 
of the "Spirit of God" or "Spirit of Truth" in us one time 
than another, according as we have yielded to its influence. 
Christ always had it after His temptation, and His own 
Spirit was sacrihed for the Spirit of the Father which dwelt 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 109 

in Him, and He was the Only One; and hence Jesus never 
gave His own opinions npon any subject. But while Paul 
did and Peter, no doubt others did also, and we must not 
conclude that such private opinions or understandings were 
correct because they had the power to perform miracles to 
prove that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the God of 
heaven, for such powers were not given to make their pri- 
vate opinions infallible; nevertheless the object was accom- 
plished for which they were intended; and without the 
power to perform miracles, all that they could have said 
would have been valueless in converting the heathen, since 
the Jew failed as an example to prepare the Gentile for a 
more intelligent understanding of the true God. 

In speaking as above I have reference to PauFs letter 
to the Galaitians in general. He has been over-zealous, per- 
haps, in his efforts to get them to understand the difference 
between obedience to the law and obedience to the Spirit 
which freed us from the law, or brought us so far within 
its pale that it could not have any power over us ; and espe- 
cially do I refer to his effort to explain the old covenant, 
and show that the promises were to Abraham amd Christ 
only. Turn to chapter 3, verse 15, and you will see that he 
appeals to his" own knowledge and understanding, and uses 
his own system of reasoning, and said: "I speak after the 
luauuer of men.^^ And in the sixteenth verse you see he 
bases the whole matter on the hypothesis that the word 
"seed" is singular and means but one, and that the plural 
was obtained by annexing as a suffix the letter "s," making 
it "seeds," as follows : "Now to Abraham and his seed were 
the promises made. He saith not. And to seeds, as of many; 
but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ." 

iN"ow while he perhaps accomplishecl his object by this 



110 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

argument, and did all that was necessary for the Galatlans 
in their then condition, 1 do regret that this effort was re- 
corded for after generations to read, as it is feeble, incor- 
rect, and unfortunate to us, and does not convey the proph- 
et^s idea. Seed means one; seed also means many, and did 
when the Scriptures were written. But while the argument 
is feeble, and his position as given in the sixteenth verse, 
just quoted, is almost absurd, any one at the present day, 
ungoverned by prejudice and guided by the Spirit of Truth, 
can see clearly enough what he was trying to impress upon 
the minds of the Galatians; for his mission was to testify 
of Jesus as the Christ, and prove Him to the Gentiles, that 
all might know the true God. And he had to explain to 
them the object of the law (which any of us can see at a 
glance at this age); and in so doing it was not really nec- 
essary to explain in detail the operations of God with gen- 
erations that had passed away a thousand years before, and 
hence he did not give the promises as understood by Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and the patriarchs. The promise was given 
according to their ability, whose duty it was to lay the foun- 
dation of obedience by which man was to know God and 
be made perfect. I admit He did not mean Ishmael and 
]iis offspring, but that He selected Isaac and his seed as 
the channel of His operations, and that they should be ^^as 
the stars of heaven,'^ and a blessing to all the families of 
the earth (but they were a curse); and surely no one can 
read the covenant carefully over, and then turn to the above 
argument of PaiiFs without seeing and admitting it to be 
weak and worthless. 

Let us briefly review the covenant. Turn first to Gen- 
esis, chapter 12, when Abraham was yet at Haran, and the 
Lord said to him : "And I will make of thee a great nation, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. Ill 

and I will bless theC;, and make thy name great; and thou 
shalt be a blessing/^ After this Abram took his wife. Lot, 
and others and went to Canaan, and stopped on the plain of 
Moreh, at which place the Lord appeared unto Abram and 
said : "Unto thy seed will I give this land." Did the Lord 
mean that He was going to give that land to Christ ? Now 
turn to chapter 15 and read. "And he brought him forth 
abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the 
stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto 
him, 80 shall thy seed be." Just here let me say that while 
God knew that after generations would in the age of the 
Spirit understand that those converted to Christ's doctrine 
would multiply and outnumber the stars of heaven or sands 
of the sea, AbraJiam did not and could not comprehend it; 
and hence he only looked to the foundation and preparation 
of God's great national example, which was all that the Lord 
intended. 

Turn to chapter 17, and read more fully the conditions 
of the covenant: "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear 
thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and 
I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting 
covenant, and with his seed after him." "Thou shalt keep 
my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in 
their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep 
between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man 
child among you shall be circumcised." And in chapter 18 
the reason is given why Abraham was selected as a suitable 
party to the covenant: "For I know him, that he will com- 
mand his children and his household after him, and they 
shall keep the way of the Lord." In cliapter 21, after Sarah 
had decided to drive out Tshmael and his mother, the Lord 
said unto Abraham: "Let it not be grievous in thy sight; 



112 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

... . for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of 
the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he 
is thy seed.^' Showing bej^ond a doubt that the seed of 
Isaac was the channel for God^s operations, ' although a 
promise was made to make Ishmael a nation, because he 
also was the seed of Abraham. The Israelite and other na- 
tions knew there were especial favors shown all those who 
became his children through Isaac; so also were after gen- 
erations to understand the especial favor or grace shown all 
sons of God through Jesus the Christ, each party having a 
work to perform in its respective age or period of the world. 

Turn to Exodus, chapter 32, and read what Moses' 
views were of the covenant and the promises relative to the 
seed: "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy serv- 
ants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst 
unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, 
and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your 
seed, and they shall inherit it forever." Here he uses the 
word "they." God evidently intended each generation to 
understand that which concerned them, and no more. 

N'ow bear in mind that while God did know that Jesus 
would be brought of the seed of Abraham, it was not nec- 
essary for him to know, but it was justice to the Israelites 
to give them an opportunity to be a blessing to all nations, 
by their obedience and example before them, and thus pre- 
pare them for a peaceful and intelligent reception of the 
Spirit of God in their hearts; also that while God knows all 
things. His system of operation with man, and for justice 
and mercy to him, is as though He knew nothing beyond the 
present. 

The Israelite was evidently intended, as we shall see 
further on, to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 113 

as au example of the mercies and great kindness of the 
God of heaven to all who obey His commands, and to show 
forth the terror of His anger upon all the disobedient, and 
the nations who ^^•ould not acknowledge and serve Him as 
the Omnipotent One; and thus, by overcoming evil with 
good, destroy the gods of the earth to the glory of the God 
of the universe. This Israel had the power to do, as did 
x\dain to refrain from eating of the fruit of the tree of 
knowledge, or as men have to-day to turn from evil and to 
do good, if they but use the means which God provided 
sufficient for the requirements of man in every age of the 
world. But Israel as a nation failed in the w^ork assigned 
him, and paid the penalty as individuals do to-day. Nev- 
ertheless, the objects of God are accomplished; the work 
goes on, and the time must come when the will of God is 
"done on earth as it is done in heaven." And now that 
the name and knowledge of God is established inextinguish- 
ably on earth in the hearts of men to whom the work is 
assigned, bear in mind that if we be drones in the hive, and 
neglect our part, that we are the losers, and not God; and 
in this connection it is well to remember also that, "One 
day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day'^; and all those who refuse to work under 
command of the Spirit of Truth must perish as did those 
who would not obey the Word. But the beautiful city will 
be built, and the word "Finished" in purest chaxacters of 
dazzling sheen blaze from every capstone and spire. 

Then let us carefully listen for the whispered com- 
mands of the Spirit within us, and obey with such an hon- 
est desire to fill our places according to the will of the Mas- 
ter that we shall be accounted trustworthy workmen, not 
turned aside by the precepts of men. 



114 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTEK VII. 

Tlie Second Period or Word Continued. — Israel a National 
Example to the Worid. 

The Lord has declared in many places through this 
period, saying of Israel and the entire human family: 
"They shall know that I am God/^ Now you certainly will 
agree that we cannot know anything except by that com- 
mon-sense reason which God has given us, and that it is by 
that same intelligent reason we are required to know Him. 
That reason must be convinced and satisfied ere we can ac- 
cept anything as true, and hence God has brought aU His 
operations within its scope. I do not say that man knew 
God in the days of Abraham and Israel, for certainly (ex- 
cept a few of His elect) they did not, nor did they under- 
stand His designs at that time; but we at this age of en- 
lightenment and Spirit of God do know, and can look back 
and understand all His operations with man, and it is un- 
questionably through the instrumentality of this same sys- 
tem, guided by the Spirit of Truth. For in the days of Je- 
sus the Christ and the apostles, and up to the destruction 
of Antichrist, the realities of all figures and designs were 
revealed. 

"Death reigned from Adam to Moses," for by disobedi- 
ence and consequent sin all forgot God; and where there is 
no knowledge of Gocl, there is no life. But Moses was raised 
up for certain purposes, and from his early history it may 
be seen that he was predestined : and G od was manifested 



Two TJwusand Years in Eternity. 115 

to him in such a manner that his mind was fully and thor- 
oughly convinced and reconciled that it was the omnipotent 
and omniscient God who spoke to him through the medium 
of His angel in the burning bush; and thus it was eternal 
life sprang up through a knowledge of the eternal and rul- 
ing power and the manner of understanding and obeying 
His commands. Moses saw the flame of fire in the bush 
(Exodus, ch. 3), and the bush was not consumed; and the 
angel of the Lord called to Moses and told him it was God 
who spoke to him, and to prove to him that it was the Om- 
nipotent Being he was told (chapter 4) to cast his rod on 
the ground, and when he did, it became a serpent and he 
ran from it, and when he was told to take it by the tail, and 
he obeyed, it again turned to a rod in his hands; and to 
more thoroughly convince him, he was told to put his hand 
in his bosom and take it out, and when he did, it was white 
with leprosy, and he was told to again put it in his bosom 
and take it out, and when he obeyed, it was again as the 
other flesh; and Moses was convinced and began to study 
God and His requirements; and while there were subse- 
quent evidences given from time to time, and he even asked 
to see God's glory and know more of Him, nevertheless he 
needed not the blood of Christ to redeem him, since there 
was already such a knowledge of God stamped upon his 
mind and understanding that it could never be erased while 
he existed, and would forever forbid his bowing to stocks 
and stones or any other than the unseen God of heaven; 
therefore, the burning bush accomplished for him all that 
Jesus the Christ did for the nations, in a more advanced 
and intelligent age. 

To this time God operated through individuals only in 
the channel of His elect, to retain His name upon the earth; 



116 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

but in this more advanced age He has seen proper to select 
a nation, and claim it as His own, clothing it with great 
prosperity and peace, removing all obstacles in the way of 
their progress, and only requiring easy terms of obedience 
to His commands, that the contrast be vividly drawn be- 
tween the operations and power of the God of heaven and 
the gods of the earth, to the destmction and perpetual oblit- 
eration of the latter, and establishing the glory of the for- 
mer beyond a most remote doubt or possibility of their be- 
ing but one God in all the universe. And for this purpose 
He covenanted with Abraham, and laid the foundation of 
this nation in Isaac, and the stipulations are written in the 
seventeenth chapter of Genesis, showing that He wanted 
His people marked in such a way that the world, though 
ignorant, might know them wherever they were seen, and 
recognize them as that peculiar people claimed and cared 
for by the unseen God. That mark was the circumcision 
of their foreskins — a good one, when we take into consid- 
eration that it carried wdth it a constant admonition to re- 
frain from the unnatural and heinous use of the organs of 
generation, so extensively practiced at that age of the world. 
This work began wdth Abraham, and Israel was the 
nation produced as the channel for God^s operations, His 
peculiar people and example to the world. And now, while 
I desire that you read the Scriptures from Genesis to Eeve- 
lation, to determine the correctness of my views, I will call 
your attention to some particular parts in support of what 
I say, and ask that you read not only the verse or chapter 
referred to or quoted, but all connected with the subject 
in question, bearing in mind that the people were all heath- 
en, and at that time the system was just germinating by 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 117 

which mankind Avas to be raised above that stupid and ani- 
mal condition in which they existed. 

Another important fact, according to common plain rea- 
son, is, that once God selected a nation or people to estab- 
lish His name, and published that fact to the world ; in order 
to convince the nations of the earth that He was the only 
omnipotent God, it was necessary to continue to use that 
people till the work was accomplished, notwithstanding they 
fail to do their part, in which event they must be exhibited 
as an example of His power to punish evil and disobedience, 
as well as to reward those who willingly obey His com- 
mands: one to generate fear and reverence, the other to be- 
get love and boldness. And to anyone who reads the Script- 
ures free from prejudice, there cannot be a shadow of doubt 
that when He selected Israel as the national example to the 
world. He intended and earnestly desired them to be an 
example of obedience, and show to the heathen nations 
that those who worshiped and obeyed the God of heaven 
would have continued peace, unlimited prosperity, and indul- 
gence to enjoy the richest blessings the world could produce ; 
and that all other nations should fear the God of Israel, and 
seek shelter beneath His commodious wings, or finally be 
consumed by the fires of His indignation, ^ow, to support 
this view, let us read and reflect over the cogitations of 
Moses at the wilderness of Paran, when God determined to 
kill the whole nation, and raise up another out of Moses 
(Numbers, ch. 14), who would be a greater nation; and 
Moaes speaks as though he were talking with God, and so 
he was communing with that Spirit of Truth within him, 
which is God. 

^^And the Lord said unto Moses, How long mil this 
people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they bo- 



118 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

lieve me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them ? 
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, 
and will make thee a greater nation and .mightier than 
they/^ Now yon see that the impression was,- on the mind 
of Moses, that God would kill them all, as they had heen so 
nnreasonabty and provokingly rebellions; and now hear him 
remonstrate with God: "And Moses said nnto the Lord, 
Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thon broughtest np 
this people in thy might from among them;) and they will 
tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard 
that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art 
seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, 
and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of 
a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt 
kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have 
heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, because the Lord 
was not able to bring this people into the land which he 
sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wil- 
derness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my 
Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken." Is not this 
good common sense? and it does not sound m3^thological. 
And further, if God did not want Israel as an example to 
save the other nations, why should He care whether Israel 
was killed as one man, or any other ? But in the same chap- 
ter He swore saying: "I have pardoned according to thy 
word;" — that is, "I regard your supplications and interces- 
sions, Moses;" — '"but as truly as I live, all the earth sJiall 
be filled with the glory of the Lord." And we see clearly 
from the above ab Avell as all of his acts that Moses was not 
caring so much for Israel, but for the glory of the God for 
whom he was working, and the object is cle^r enough to 
any man who uses his intellectual reason, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 119 

But, alas for Israel! he was a failure. "They have 
spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant" (Hosea, 
ch. 10, V. 4), changed the glory of God into idols, and did 
worse than the heathen nations; and as Jeremiah under- 
stood it, they did worse than God thought they would. 
Chapter 7: "And they have huilt the high places of To- 
phet, which is in the valley of the son of Plinnom, to burn 
their sons and their daughters in the fire ; which I coui- 
nianded them not, neither came it into my heart." Chap- 
ter 19: "They have built also the high places of Baal, to 
burn their sons, with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, 
which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into 
my mind." And yet, He would not make a final and com- 
plete destruction or "end" of them, because He had chosen 
them to make His name and power known to the nations of 
the earth; and this determination had gone forth, after 
which to destroy Israel would have made the word of God 
false, and defeated Him in His purpose, necessitating a 
more complete or perhaps a full destruction of all mankind 
from the earth. As it was, Israelis failure to perform his 
part in the covenant did cause immense slaughter, untold 
misery and distress, not only among themselves, but among 
all other nations; and, much as you may differ with me, 
they caused the death of the Messiah thereby. While, on 
the other hand, had they but performed their part as God 
had commanded, and explained to them, times without num- 
ber, and really in His heart desired they should do, and in 
accordance with the plans marked out, the work could have 
been accomplished, the name of God spread throughout the 
length and breadth of the earth, and His glory established 
with comparatively little misery and bloodshed. 

Now that Israel was chosen and educated in the ways 



120 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

of God, rescued from Eg3^ptian bondage with a high hand 
and an outstretched arm, tried in the wilderness and purged 
of their former customs and habits, and brought triumph- 
antly into the land flowing with milk and honey, as an ex- 
ample of God's power and mercy that other nations might 
fear them and their God, I refer you to the book of Ex- 
odus. Eead the marvelous display of God's power in afflict- 
ing Pharoah and his people with all manner of plagues, and 
then destroying the firstborn of their families, to make 
them know it was the terror of the omnipotent God, and 
finally destroying the king and his host in the Eed Sea 
while pursuing Israel, all of which is too lengthy to give in 
detail here ; but which was done to educate this chosen peo- 
ple, and make the heathen nations afraid of tliem and their 
God wherever they went. Then we turn to the nineteenth 
chapter, where they arrive at Sinai, as God had promised 
Moses should be as a sign that He had sent him, and their 
preparation to worship at "the mountain of God." 

^In the third month, when the children of Israel were 
gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came 
they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed 
from Eephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and 
had pitched in the wilderiiess: and there Israel encamped 
before the mount. And Closes went up unto God. and the 
Eord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus 
shalt th-ou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children 
of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and 
how I bare you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto my- 
self. !N"ow therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and 
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto 
me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall 
be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 121 

are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of 
Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the 
people, and laid before their faces all these words which the 
Lord commanded him. And all the people answered to- 
gether, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. 
And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. 
And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo I come unto thee in 
a thick cloud, that the people may heair when I speak with 
thee, and believe thee forever. And Moses told the words 
of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses, 
Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to- 
morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready 
asrainst the third day: for the third day the Lord will come 
down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. . . 

. And Moses went down from the mount unto the peo- 
ple, and sanctified the people; and they washed their 
clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the 
third day: come not at your wives. And it came to pass on 
the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and 
lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the 
voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people 
that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth 
the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they 
stood at the nether part of the mount." 

They were to wash their clothes and keep themselves 
unstained by the flesh; and on the third day, see, in your 
imagination, over six hundred thousand poor, ignorant, op- 
pressed slaves, dressed in clean clothes, all trembling with 
fear, led forth from their camps to be introduced to their 
God, Who had so boldly delivered them from their cruel 
bondage, and now stood on the mountain in the terror of 
His majesty, clothed with fire and c^noke; and while the 



122 Two Thousand Years in Eternity.. 

vivid lightning played about its summit^ He was ready with 
the voice of thnnder to speak in their hearing words of ad- 
monition and advice, that they might 'laelieve for ever.'' 
In the next chapter (ch. 20) yon can read what God said to 
them and commanded; but I will give only the first and 
most important, which constitutes the most prominent feat- 
ure in the course of duty laid down for Israel; indeed, it 
is the great lesson for the whole world to learn, and in it : 
is comprised the object of the Creator up even to the day 
when the work of the Messiah was finished. 

'^And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord 
thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods 
before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven im- 
age, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, 
or that is in the earth beneath, or that, is in the water un- 
der the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, 
nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto 
the third and fourth generation of them that hate me ; and 
shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and 

keep my comm.andments And the Lord said 

unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, 
Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye 
shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make 
unto you gods of ijold.'^ l^ow where was the impropriety if 
Moses did teach those ignorant creatures that it was the 
voice of God in the terror of the scene? Did not God in 
some way put it into his mind and stamp it upon his under- 
standing that they were the commands of God given to 
those poor ignorant beings for their eternal interests ? And 
can ypu.not se§ to-day that such ^ manifest inteUigence 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 123 

in the mind of Moses at that age of the world was by the 
omniscient Spirit of the Creator? Yes, we can stand at 
the end of the stupendous work at this intelligent age, and 
by that same Spirit look back and understand the begin- 
ning, a.s none but God from the beginning knew the full 
course and the end. It was God who spoke to that host of 
ignorant beings, though they heard only the voice of the 
thunder. Moses was the medium. 

Whsii difference is it to us, the manner in which those 
impressions were made on the mind of Moses? Is it not 
sufficient for us to see to-day, by the intelligence which God 
has given us, that those commands were strictly in accord- 
ance with the designs of God and for the welfare of man? 
They have proven good for three thousand years, and they 
will be the foundation principles of justice, intelligence, 
and righteousness for thousands of jeaxs to come — yea, for 
ever; and who but God could have dictated them? 

While all of the commands given from Sinai are writ- 
ten in the chapter referred to, I wish you to ponder well 
the one I have given, and hold it in your minds while read- 
ing the entire Scriptures, where you will find it to be a mat- 
ter of the greatest importance, and that idolatry of any kind 
was the most obnoxious and detestable offense to God; in- 
deed, it was "the sin of the world" spoken of by Daniel, from 
Avhich man was redeemed and brought back to the true God, 
and to life. Common-sense teaches that the Creator could 
not under any circumstances allow His creatures to look 
upon any finite being or thing as their ruler — indeed, no 
other than God himself, or they never could attain to that 
perfection necessary to carry out His designs: for under 
the influence of an idol no fixed principles of progressive 
rightpQusness could be established in the hearts of men; and 



124 Two Thousand Years in eternity. 

hence His determination, as is manifested throughout the 
Scriptures, that all should know Him to be the God and ruler 
of the universe. N'evertheless, He was able to sweep man 
from the face of the earth, and then accomplish his objects, 
by raising up another people, and hence I say, that though 
individuals and nations fail and defeat themselves, the ob- 
jects of God must and will be achieved, no matter what cir- 
cumstances or conditions may arise among men, nor how 
many thousands or millions of the human family perish by 
their own obstinate spirit and self-will; or, if it were pos- 
sible for Moses himself, were he living at the present time, 
to turn away to heathenism, and all the nations far and 
near be destroyed, yet would He fill the earth with a peo- 
ple or set of beings intelligent that would bow in humble- 
ness and glorify Him as the only God, to the total and per- 
petual obliteration of all others. This we may expect, as it 
will surely be done, though it require thousands of years and 
much suffering to finish the work; for the human family 
to a great extent yet are guided by the precepts of men in- 
stead of the Spirit of God within them, even in this Chris- 
tian nation. 

In Isaiah (ch. 45) He says of Israel, ^'Ye shall' not be 
ashamed nor confounded ivorld without end,'' and that He 
formed the earth and made it to be inhabited, and that He 
''^made it not in vain"; it must remain and it must be peopled 
with intelligent beings who obey His Spirit within them. "I 
aril the Lord, and there is none else'' 

Isaiah, ch. 48 (speaking to Israel) : "0 that thou hadst 
hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been 
as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves ef the sea: 
thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy 
bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eterniiy. 125 

been cut off nor destroyed from before me/^ Hosea, eh. 13 : 
"0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself/^ 

The Bible is only a history and record of what really 
occurred, and not what might have been had man obediently 
submitted to be manipulated by the hand of God, Who cre- 
ated him. Then let us not look upon ourselves to-day with 
such a degree of importance, individually or nationally, as 
to suppose God to be loser if we refuse or in any way fail 
to obey His Spirit as good workmen, or suitable material, 
and are cast away in the rubbish; for He has given us a 
lighted candle in our hands — yea, in our hearts, and has 
no use for material in the edifice not tried and prepared by 
His Spirit. 

But let us examine further the evidence that Israel was 
intended as an example to reform the world, and that the 
promises of God are in all cases conditional on obedience 
to His commands. Deuteronomy, ch. 28, is worth reading m 
Mo, but I shall only give sufficient for this point: "The 
Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as 
he hath sworn unto thee,'" [Eemiember the covenant.] "if 
thou sha^lt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, 
and walk in His ways. And all people of the earth shall 
see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they 
shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee 
plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit 
of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land 
which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee." The 
blessings are great in their enumerations and the choice 
things of the earth. Eead them : "If that thou hearken 
unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I com- 
mand thee this day, to observe and to do them: and thou 
shall not go aside from amy of the words which I command 



126 Two Thousand Years in Bterniiy. 

thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after 
other gods to serve them." You see the conditions of Is- 
rael's prosperity. "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt 
not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to ohserve 
to do all his commandments and his statutes which I com- 
mand thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon 
thee, and overtake thee." Eead these curses and see how 
terrific and overwhelming they are. I do not give them 
here, because they are not necessary in proof of the point 
before us. Then let us turn to 1 Kings, ch. 8, and read 
carefully the prayer of King Solomon at the dedication of 
the Temple. It is magnificent in its sense and spirit, and 
edifying to us at the present age; and he prays fervently 
that Israel may receive all the blessings promised of God, 
but his intellectual knowledge is displayed in all instances 
by asking for these blessings — provided Israel turn away 
from those evils which had destroyed them — that is, when 
Ihey had placed themselves in a proper position to receive them, 
or have a right to expect them — think of it. Then he prays 
for the stranger from distant lands and foreign nations who 
may be induced to come to the God of Israel; in the fol- 
lowing maner: "^Moreover concerning a stranger, that is 
not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for 
thy name's sake; (for they shall hear of thy- great name, 
and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched-out arm;) when 
he shall come and pray toward this house; hear thou in 
heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the 
stranger calleth to thee for: tliat all people of the earth may 
hioiv thy name, to fear tJiee, as do thy people Israel." And 
finally, he asks that the words of his prayer be nigh unto 
the Ijord; that He maintain their cause at all times as the 
matter shall require. ''That all the people of the earth may 



Two Thousand Years in Mernity. 12'V 

Icnow that the Lord is God, and that there is none else." 
And yet Solomon in all of his glory and wisdom, who had 
known God, and on two occasions communed with Him in 
a vision, went down to his grave a miserable failure ; and 
God again took the work in His own hands, to preserve His 
name, and did change from the original designs. 

Turn now to Jeremiah, ch. 13, and know certainly the 
object of Israel, their disobedience, and their doom. We 
will quote a portion: ''For as the girdle cleaveth to the 
loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole 
house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the 
Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a 
name, and for a praise, and for a glory : but they would not 
hear. Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; 
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Every bottle shall be 
filled with wine : and they shall say unto thee. Do we not 
certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine ? 
Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Be- 
hold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the 
kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the 
prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunk- 
enness. And I will dash them one against another, even 
the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will 
not pity, nor spare, not have mercy, but destroy them." 
Now while the writers of the New Testament Scriptures in 
many respects had a very vague understanding of the 
prophecies, and therefore used strong phraseology in de- 
scribing the scenes of the second destruction, and the effect 
of introducing the theory and practical results of Christ's 
teaching, we who can understand the prophets may trace 
their meaning through the words of the apostles; and on 
this occasion we will turn to St. Luke, ch. 12, and see how 



128 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the words of Jesus correspond with Jeremiah^s declaration 
so many years before. Christ says: "I am come to send 
fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already kindled? 
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I 
straitened till it be accomplished! Suppose ye that I am 
come to give peace on earth? I tell you, N"ay; but rather 
division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one 
house divided, three against two, and two against three. 
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son 
against the father: the mother against the daughter, and 
the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against 
her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her 
mot] ler-in-law.^^ 

Now, reader, whoever you are, whether ignorant or a 
man of letters, I ask, Did Israel fail? Did the Jews do 
what God wanted and gave them power to do ? Turn then 
to Ezekiel, ch. 15, and read what he said of the siege and 
downfall of Jerusalem; the terrible calaimities that were to 
befall them and the horrifying destruction that was to over- 
take them. The chapter is full of their predicted misery, 
privation, and death. I give you the last verse: "So will 
I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall be- 
reave thee.; and pestilence and blood shall pass through 
thee ; and I will bring th e sword upon thee, I the Lord have 
spoken it.^^ And remember while you read, that the em- 
blem and witness of the Father was the clear, pure water 
from heaven, deluging the earth and cleansing it of primary 
corruption ; but now the judgments of God are turned loose 
upon Judah as upon Israel, and the "blood' ^ begins to flow 
— tliat crimson emblem, and dreadful T\dtness of the Son 
and Word of God, which was to drench the earth and cleanse 
it again of inexcusable wickedness and sin. I would have 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 129 

you read carefully and consecutively the books of the three 
great proj^het^, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, relative to 
the outrageous conduct of Israel and Judah: their perfect 
disregard for God^s commands and objects; their return to 
a far worse state of heathenism than any and all other 
nations; observe the frequent and continuous admoni- 
tions and earnest pleading of God through His prophets for 
Israel to return from such inexcusable sin; and His sorrow 
because they would not, and finally He casts them off, throws 
them as convict slaves under the cruel and merciless tread 
of all the heathen nations, and declares the Gentiles to be 
a better people, and He would take them to Himself; but 
do not fail to note the many times He declares with empha- 
sis, ^'They shall Imow that I am the Lord'^ 

On a preceding page of this work I stated that the failure 
of the Jews — or, rather, Israel — to perform the work assigned 
them did necessitate the death of the Messiah, and it is but 
just for me to say something here in defense of the posi- 
tion, which is true. The duty of Israel, as you can certainly 
see by tliis time, was not a work of reformation properly, 
but a revolution.- They were, by their example before all 
the world, to change their belief in gods of stone and brass 
to the true God, and it would be gross injustice to Him to 
say that it was impossible for Him to lay a plan by which 
the world could be revolutionized without bloodshed and 
the sacrifice of Him who was appointed to teach that more 
delicate and perfect operation of God by the Spirit in the 
hearts of men. And it wa,s the duty of Israel to teach them 
the first step, or what would be more properly, in the entire 
plan of God, the second step; that is, to show to them that 
to obey the laws of Moses (called and were the laws of 
God) would bring peace and great prosperity, and do more 



ISO Two Thousand Tears in Bternily. 

for the inhabitaaits of the earth than any idol, or all the 
heathen gods conld do. This would have generated in them 
very natnrally a disposition and earnest desire to know more 
of that Being who was so certain in all of His o.perations 
and so kind and benevolent to all of His creatures. This 
second lesson would have required hundreds of years; hut 
in due time the whole world would have been brought un- 
der the Mosiac law, which was the written law of God, cast 
away all their idols, and become wholly obedient to the first 
command, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.^' 
And in this condition it would have been comparatively an 
easy matter, when One arose to lead them a step further, 
to explain to them the meaning of all the emblems that 
were made in the Tabernacle and placed in the Temple of 
King Solomon. How that the Temple itself was the body 
of a man, or emblematic of the bodies of human beings: the 
Sanctum Sanctorum is the heart of man, or seat of his in- 
tellectual reason, the tAvo cherubims made of olive wood, 
which is emblematic of light, and stood over the mercy-seat 
with their faces turned inward, were the two great witnesses 
who were to stand up and testify in behalf of Him who was 
to arise somewhere among the people, to teach them the 
power of God's Spirit in man; and that their intellectual 
reasan, truthfully obeyed, was the God of all the universe 
in their hearts; and that when this was properly understood, 
all these signs and emblems would be done away, and each 
individual should act for himself; and that the golden bowl 
on the golden lamp was emblematic of that man who was 
to arise to teach these things, and so on. But Israel, in- 
stead of obeying the law and studying these emblems and 
teaching other nations by their example, followed after the 
example of the heathen, arid showed that instead of being 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 1^1 

God^s people, they were but heathen themselves, and set up 
gods of gold, and by their horrible, detestable, and heinous 
crimes became so engrossed with the ways of other nations 
that they could not understand the vision which was the 
medium of God^s communication: and hence they became 
blind and this system of revolution was lost, and the whole 
of the great work placed on the Messiah — that One who 
wais to arise, and the consequences were bloody. We can 
see, by looking back but a fcAv years, thta.t when any man 
came to the front with a new theory, advocating new ideas 
and principles that were likely to overthrow some old S5^s- 
tem, at once the people began to put forth their efforts to 
crush out and destroy him and his principles, and he be- 
came a sacrifice for any good he might have done the world; 
when common sense, directed by truth instead of selfish- 
ness, would demand an investigation, and an acceptance of 
that which was justly a benefit and correct. And in like 
manner the burden on him whose duty it was to teach the 
operation of God in an intelligent mind was so much in- 
creased, and the difiiculties and obstacles in his way made 
so great, not only with the heathen, but among the Jews 
(indeed, far worse with the latter), that the only hope or 
expectation was, that when this man did arise, he would 
only be able to plant this knowledge in the minds of a few, 
and that its effect would be so great in opposition to the old 
system, and so endanger its overthrow, that they would cer- 
tainly kill him. And such was made known to the prophet, 
not in detail, but in substance, so that the words of Isaiah 
(chapter 53), who first understood it, were handed down 
through all the prophets, to Jesus, Who became the Mes- 
siah, wherefore He knew that He could not live long after 
He began to teach His doctrine. And while God in His 



132 Tivo Thousand Years in Eterniiy. 

wisdom and omniscience knew and foretold these things 
through His prophets, many took foreknowledge for pre- 
destination, and looked upon this matter in the light that 
God had entailed this lahor and doom upon the individual 
who was prompted by the Spirit io undertake, the work; the 
apostles and I believe Jesus himself took this view of the 
matter, while God only foretold what He knew would trans- 
pire in the course of human events. A volume coukUbe 
written on this part of the subject, but I have not time nor 
place : so we \vill read what Isaiah said and ask you to exer- 
cise your mind in thinking over it. 

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the 
arm of the Lord revealed?. For he shall grow up before 
him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he 
hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, 
there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised 
and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was de- 
spised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne 
our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him 
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wound- 
ed for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: 
the chastisement of onr peace was upon him; and with his 
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; 
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord 

hath laid on him the iniquity of us all He was 

taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall de- 
clare his generation ? for he was cut off out of the land of 
the living: for the transgression of my people was he strick- 
en." Eemember that Jesus never had a child born to Him. 

God never felt the same to Israel after Aaron made the 
.golden calf at Sinai, which may be seen in His communica- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 183 

tioiis to Moses, which shows that He did not do with them 
as He promised; because they refused to obey, and He said: 
'"Ye shall know my dreach of protnise.'' 

Yes, Israel failed and changed the glory of God into 
an idol, and God altered His plans, and changed His man- 
ner of accomplishing His purposes, and His wrath was kin- 
dled burning hot; not only against Israel and Judah, but 
the nations of the whole earth, for their destruction. 

While God's promises to man are sure, they are in eVery 
instance conditional; but His declaration in support and 
defense of His name are as invariable as Himself, and hence 
He changes His mind toward individuals, and even nations, 
according to their actions; but the great object of establish- 
ing His name on earth among men to the destruction of all 
other gods must be accomplished. The thirt3^-third chapter 
of Ezekiel contains promises of God showing that His acts 
are conditional on the acts of mail, such as: "When I shall 
say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to 
his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his right- 
eousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that 
he hath committed, he shall die for it. Again, when I say 
unto the wicked. Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his 
sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked 
restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in 
the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall 
surely live, he shall not die.'' In the tenth chapter of 
Judges, God said He would deliver Israel no more, and told 
them to call on the heathen gods whom they had turned to 
serve; but when Israel put away those strange gods, and 
cried to the Lord, He had pity and sorrow for them and 
again delivered them. In 2 Chronicles (ch. 33) you will see 
that while God had promised to Avrite His name in the Tern- 



134 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

pie, and in Jerusalem forever, Manasseh polluted it with the 
abominable image, the work of his own hands; and God did 
forsake it, and from that time seemed to be determined 
upon its destruction; and I ask that you bear this in mind 
when we come to speak of the second Temple and the "abom- 
ination of desolation standing in the holy place," spoken of 
by Daniel and Jesus. Eead in the book of Jonah where Grod 
forced him to proclaim publicly His determination to de- 
stroy Nineveh after forty days; but when they clothed man 
and beast in sackcloth, and cried to the Lord, He "repented 
of the evil that He had said He would do unto them, and 
He did it not." 

Yet one more example in support of the fact that God 
did and does change His mind (so to speak) and manner of 
operating according as men perform their part of the work 
assigned them, and that all men from the earliest period to 
the present did have power to obey such commands as He 
gave them from time to time in their course of develop- 
ment. He AYOuld not impose a duty on man he could not 
perform, and never required at his hands an impossibility. 
It is w orse than folly to suppose that man could not obey 
the commands of God, simply because that omniscient Be- 
ing knew he would not, and guarded against defeat (remem- 
ber the cherubims and iiaming sword in the garden of Eden) ; 
and, on the other hand, it would have been cruel injustice 
not to give him a fair trial, as was done in every instance: 
for then would he never have learned to obey. 

Turn now to 1 Samuel, and see how God selected Saul 
to be king over Israel — gave him another heart, and was 
with him so that he prophesied: the Lord was on his side, 
and intended to make him king over Israel for ever. Eead 
what Samuel said to him relative to his acts at Gilgal (eh. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 135 

13, V. 13): ^'Thoii hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept 
the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he com- 
manded thee : for now would the Lord have established thy 
kingdom upon Israel for ever/^ And now, lest it be said 
that the Lord in the beginning wanted David, and intended 
him to be the king, I call your attention to the reason why 
he (David) was sought, as is given in the next verse: "But 
now thy kiiigdom shall not contiiiue : the Lord hath sought 
him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath com- 
manded him to be captain over his people, tecause thou hast 
not Icept that ivhiclt the Lord commanded thee/' In chapter 15 
(v. 11) it may be seen that it repented the Lord for having 
set up Saul to be king. Please do not forget this, that your 
mind .may refer to it in looking over future events. 

And now, that your views may not be cramped and 
forced into a narrow channel contrary to reason and the 
liberal intelligence which God has given you, let me ask. 
If Saul had obeyed God in all things, according to His de- 
signs and wishes, and thereby filled the place to which he 
was appointed, according to the requirements, would not 
the Messiah have been brought of the seed of Saxil instead 
of David? Why not? Nothing has hitherto been said of 
the one or the other. And while God holds sacred and in- 
fallible His designs and ultimate great object, is it but rea- 
sonable that He should be governed by circumstances 'and 
conditions produced by man in carrying out His designs, 
being wholly sufficient for every emergency aiS it arises? 

This was the age of man governed by the Son, which 
was the Word of God spoken by individuals, commanding 
the people according to the will of the Father, and as the 
occasion required. Man himself being now sufficiently in- 
telligent to understand and free to obey, making the work 



136 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

shorter and more harmonious; or be governed by his own 
physical inclinations, and thereby protract the work, and 
suffer the consequences : for I again assure you that time is 
nothing to God, while it is of vast importance to" man. 

But while the above is true relative to the commands 
and promises to men by the Word, conditional and depend- 
ent upon the acts of the people, we see that when God's for- 
bearance is at an end, and a decree goes forth from the 
Father against a nation or the combined world, it is im- 
mutable; and that sooner or later the purpose will be ac- 
complished according as he declared. Such was the pur- 
pose made known to Noah against the whole world a hun- 
dred and twenty years before its execution; also the second 
consumption of the whole earth determined by the wisdom 
of God, the year king Ahaz died; the decree against Jerusa- 
lem in its first destruction and the oath of the Fa.ther that 
the earth should be filled with His glory and other edicts 
registero*^ in heaven against nations, cities, and individuals. 
And these declarations were only made during the age of 
l,he prophets to prove the omnipotence and omniscience of 
God when they did couie to pass in reality. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 137 



CIIAPTEE VIII. 

The Jews Blinded, and the Booh Sealed. 

God chose Israel as His people, called them His "in- 
heritance/' to be an example of His power before the world, 
which fact was notorious at that day among other nations, 
and is plainly understood by all who read the Scriptures. 
And He had laid out a course for Israel to pursue that would 
accomplish His object and glorify Him; or, in other words, 
to cause all nations to fall down and worship Him as the 
true God, or perish before the onward march of His people, 
who would have filled the whole earth. 

You will please bear in mind that we have said before 
that Israel failed, and I now say that this failure to obey 
the commands and carry out the designs of God was the 
cause of the blinding of the Jews; or that they were led so 
far astray by heathen influence that they could not compre- 
hend the Word of God in the vision which was the manner 
of communicating with man during this period; God also 
having changed His plans and manner of operation relative 
to their understanding. 

Xow when Solomon committed such gTievous offenses 
by the influence of his many wives, and such also as were 
taken from among the heathen contrary to the will and de- 
signs of God, and brought upon Israel His great displeasure, 
which was shown by the division of the kingdom, leaving 
one nation or tribe for the sake of promises to King David: 



138 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

that he and his sons should be king over Israel forever, 
Kheohoam was placed over Jndah and Jeroboam over Is- 
rael. And you will see in the forty-eighth chapter of Isa- 
iah ("Hear ye this, house of Jacob, which are called by 
the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the Avaters of 
Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make 
mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor right- 
eousness. For they call themselves of the holy city, and. 
stay themselves upon the God of Israel.'^) that the latter 
did go by the name of Israel, claimed the God of original 
Israel, the God of heaven, and stayed themselves upon Him 
before the world; while at the same time Jeroboam had 
made two calves of gold and placed one in Dan and the 
other in Bethel, the very place where Jacob in ages past 
had slept and heard the promises of God and vowed a. vow 
to the Lord. I refer you to Genesis, chapter 28; read the 
entire chapter, as it will throw some light on what I have 
said previously relative to the covenant with Abraham. I 
quote here Jacob's vow only, v\^hich he made after sleeping 
on the ground and dreamed and heard the promises of God: 
'^And Jacob a^^'aked out of his sleep, and he said. Surely the 
Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, 
and said. How dreadful is this place ! this is none other but 
the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob 
rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he 
had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured 
oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that 
place Beth-el: but the name of tha.t city was called Luz at 
the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying. If God will be 
with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will 
give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come 
again to my father's house in peace ; then shall the Lord 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 139 

be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, 
shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I 
will surely give the tenth unto thee." 

Look now at the golden calf standing where Jacob set 
up the stone, and hear the words of their king Jeroboam: 
"Behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of 
the land of Egypt/' In chapters 2 and 28 of Deuteronomy,^ 
to which I have referred before, you will see the blessings 
promised for obedience, and for keeping vividly in their 
minds and teaching their children from generation to gen- 
eration the wonderful works of the God of he:aven in deliv- 
ering them from bondage. The blessings were great regis- 
tered upon Mount Gerizim, and spoken of in many places; 
but read what is said in the eighty-first Psalm: "Oh that 
my people hsd hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked 
in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and 
turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of 
the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but 
their time should have endured forever. He should have 
fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey 
out of the rock should I have satisfied thee." Israel would 
have lived in the lap of luxury, and peo23led the whole earth, 
had they but obeyed and thus glorified their God. 

The blessings for obedience were registered upon Mount 
Gerizim, and the curses for disobedience were registered 
upon Mount Ebal ; and while you can read them in the book 
of Deuteronomy (chapters 27 and 28), it is only necessary 
for me to state here tha.t the blessings were very great — 
bounteous, and sumptuous, and that the curses were, ap- 
palling, distressing, and destructive, amounting to total 
ruin. Then look at Israel under Jeroboam, the son of Ne- 
bat, and follow along in their shameful his,tory of degrada- 



140 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

tion on down to the time when Shahnaneser, king of Assy- 
ria, besieged Samaria three years and took it. Look at the 
worse conduct and condition of Judah, who was also taken 
by the Assyrians and their land devastated, after they had 
violated not only every command, but every letter and spirit 
of their law. It is not necessary for me to ennmerate their 
acts, or try to, for, believe me, it is a shame that they should 
ever be written; and after examining these things with any 
care, you will agree — certainly agree with, me, that it was 
necessary for God to change His manner of operation from 
that which had been declared, and understood by the Jews. 
It is certainly very plain to anyone who reads, that G-od 
could not permit a people called by His name to live in peace 
and prosperity and at the same time bow down before gra- 
ven images; declajring to other nations that the power that 
delivered them from Egyptian bondage and saved them in 
every time of need la}^ in those ina.nimate golden calves or 
other images which they made with their own hands, for 
thus they would pollute His name, give His glory to an- 
other, and His praise to graven images,^' which God de- 
clared He would not do. Eead what He says in Isaiah, chap- 
ter 42, where He begins in that prophet to speak of the One 
to whom all the work of saving the world -was to be en- 
trusted, or imposed: "I the Lord have called thee in right- 
eousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee and 
give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the 
Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners 
from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the 
prison-house. I am the Lord: that is my name: and my 
glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven 
images. Behold the former things are come to pass, and 
new things do I declare; before they spring forth, I tell 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 14l 

you of tJiem.'" Therefore I do say most emphatieall}^, the 
Scriptures being my guide, that God did change His manner 
of operation to accom.plish His great object, and that change 
was portrayed in the garden of Eden, when the cherubims 
and flaming sword were placed about the tree of life; it was 
also foreshown in the Tabernacle and Temple by the em- 
blems, and from this time of the fall of the Jews it was 
prominently presented in all of the visions, accompanying 
the Word of God. I admit He did not change His object and 
purpose nor what He foreknew would be necessary to fill up 
the deficiency occasioned by the disobedience of Israel, or, 
in other words, to carry out without change that plan which 
he had predetermined in the event Israel failed (so to speak) 
to do their part in that which might have been done. I say 
might have been done; for I do hold as true, and I may say 
acxiomatic, that while God had a plan devised which He had 
determined would accomplish His great object in the event 
of Israel's failure, He certainly did have a course depicted 
in His own mind which He would have pursued had His 
people been obedient to all of His commazids, and one which 
would have accomplished His great object among men with 
equal certainty, and I have good reason for saying also, 
with more pleasure to Himself and less suffering to the 
human family. 

Now go back to the garden of Eden, and look at this 
again: take a common-sense view of the matter. Do you 
not see, in the first instance, the tree of life standing with- 
out ^vitn esses, unprotected, and no barrier to prevent man 
from reaching it? and do you not remember that God did 
not forbid him to eat of it? Then when man disobeyed the 
command, God knew he would so far lose sight of his Cre- 
ator that it would take much evidence to restore him to a 



142 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

knowledge of God, and hence the cherubims — the emblems 
of testimony. God also knew it would be a bloody lesson 
and that the masses of the human family would be slain be- 
fore they recognized the true God, and hence the -flaming 
sword. Now you would not dare to say that by obedience 
to the Creator man would not and could not have marched 
quietly, peacefully, and happily along his way, until he could 
place his hands on the tree of life and eat bountifully of 
its fruit, for most assuredly he could have done so, and with- 
out bloodshed; but it was man's own acts to satisfy his own 
will, curiosity, and lust that prevented him. Go with me 
on down through the corridors of time to the days of Is- 
rael — the "vineyard of God.^^ It was filled with everything 
that was good; and eternal life, by an intellectual knowl- 
edge of God, was placed within his grasp; and he was told 
to feed upon the fat — the luxuries of the world, in peace 
and happiness — "Only don^t disobey My commands.*' Can 
you not see it yet? Eaise up your mind's ejQ and look — 
it is plain as the noon-day's sun. But as you see, Adam was 
turned out of the garden to earn his bread by the sweat of 
his face; so when Israel disobeyed, failed, and lost sight of 
the true God, they were turned out; the fence was torn 
down, the vineyard was destroyed, and briers and thorns 
came up in it ; the people that were left from the sword, like 
Adam, were driven away to suffer affliction, privation, and 
slavery among all the heathen nations of the earth; and 
now, in the vision from this time on, are to be seen ever 
standing, the one on the right hand and the other on the 
left hand of the Word of God, the cherubims. All of which 
the Jews could not now understand, but was to show that 
overwhelming testimony would be required to convince and 
bring them back to a knowledge of God. The vision a-lso 



Two Thousand Years in Bfernity. 143 

showed that somewhere in the future a real man was to 
arise, to begin the work of teaching this intellectual knowl- 
edge; and yon know who that was, who prevailed to break 
the seven seals and open the book; which meant, to open 
up the heart of man — ^the seat of his intellectual reason, 
which had been closed up and sealed by the seven carnal 
spirits of man, which had obtained full and unlimited con- 
trol of those detestable and detested Jews; and were the 
seven devils cast out of Mary Magdalene, such as jealousy, 
malice, envy, avarice, etc. ■ As regards the flaming sword 
seen in the garden of Eden, and not now in the vision, I 
have but to say that as fast as these emblems were realized 
on the earth as material things, the emblems were to pass 
away; so now, as the sword had already been presented to 
Israel and the world in its materiality, and called in requi- 
sition in the performance of its part of the work, need no 
more be seen in the vision, and I think you will agree with 
me that Israel, as well as other nations, had already become 
very well acqauinted with it and its use in the material 
form. 

jSTow, as to the blinding of the Jews, it certainly is con- 
trary to common-sense reasoning to suppose that it was 
God's original design to select a nation and instruct them 
in His works and ways, teaching them the purpose He had 
for them, to be a blessing to all other nations by their obedi- 
ence to His laws and commands, and then blind them, that 
they be not able to see and understand His operations for 
their own welfare and the good of the world; but we do see, 
after the decree went forth, and God changed the manner 
of carrying out His great object to one the Jews could not 
understand, that it was necessary for the salvation not only 
of themselves, but also all the heathen nations or Gentiles, 



144 Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

that they be kept blind or ignorant of His system till it was 
firmly established and His plaris fully consummated be- 
yond the power of man, either Jew or Gentile, to subvert. 
Or, as you may better understand, they became as and 
were nothing more nor less than heathen, and were east 
among them; the whole world had to remain in heathen 
darkness until the full time arrived, according to the new 
plan of God, when the Messiah was introduced, and Jew 
and Gentile alike, such as were saved, had to accept the 
more intelligent system of ui^derstanding the operation of 
the Spirit of God in each heart, instead of bringing the 
Jews back under the old Mosiac law, as they expected. 

God had already trusted Israel with the work of saaictify- 
ing and glorifying Him^ — that is, to hold up His name before 
all the world as the only God of power, and had given them a 
fair trial; and when they were overcome by heathen nations, 
He redeemed them and brought them back again to the true 
God — Othniel, Ehud, Gideon, and others were raised up as 
redeemers of Israel, who brought them back under the old 
law; and surely His patience and long suffering were great 
and wonderful; but when Israel made the golden calves and 
taught the people that they were the power that brought 
them up out of Egypt — and Judah had done far worse by 
burning their sons and daughters with fire to other gods, 
and it was plain that the whole twelve tribes, called the peo- 
ple of God, had wholly backslidden into palganism. His for- 
bearance ceased, and He had to give them up to their carnal 
Insts and brutal inclinations, and take the work of preserv- 
ing His name on earth among men, and thereby bring sal- 
vation to the vvorld, in His own hands. And although He 
through the prophets continued to admonish them of evil, 
the book of God's operations was closed up and sealed to 



Tico Thousand Years in Bternity. l45 

them, and a record made before the throne of omnipotence^ 
that the Messiah, by perfect obedience to the will of God 
and the fultilling of all that was said of the Holy One of 
Israel, should prevail to break the seals and show up before 
the world the great plan of salvation, and that all who be- 
lieved in Him, as the Mediator from God could understand 
the operations of the Creator in carrying out His designs; 
but the Jews could not, for they did not obey the law nor 
study the vision which was the means set forth to enlighten 
them and' teach them the T^ ork and ways of God. 

Xow let us consult the Scriptures, both old and new, 
in these matters; but you must remember that the writers 
of the N'ew Testament took the words of the prophets as 
their guide, and hence, in order to study the' book, and to 
understand it, we must read the prophecies written out 
from the vision from time to time, and determine by subse- 
quent history, and the existing condition of the world, 
whether they transpired; and another important fact is, 
that the apostles did not fully understand the words of the 
prophets, who gave the best description possible of what 
they savr in the vision. And while it is important to exam- 
ine carefully the general tenor of the Scriptures on all im- 
portant subjects, it also is necessary here, and you will see 
from previous quotations, and such as you will read on fu- 
ture pages, that it wholly agrees with our common-sense 
reason, that yielding themselves to their animal inclina- 
tions, prompted by the carnal spirits of men under the de- 
basing heathen influence, should close up their understand- 
ing to all the revelations of God, while at the same time 
they thought they knew, having been known as the "chosen . 
people," "God's inheritance," etc.; it is but reasonable that 
once thev become ignorant of God's designs, it would be 



146 fwo Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

more difficult to bring them to the light than any other na- 
tion, and by turning to Komans, chapter 1, you will not 
only see their degraded condition, so much worse than the 
brute beasts, but you will also learn something of the carnai 
spirits of man, which constituted the seven seals on tht 
book, closed up the vision to them, and blinded their eyes. 
I will quote a part, although it is shameful to put such in 
print — but it is just; and I hope it may be sufficient to prove 
to the present generation that even the priests themselves 
of Israel and Judah were the most debased, depraved, and 
miserably debauched wretches that lived on the face of the 
earth. "For the invisible things of him from the creation 
of the w^orld are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;^' [Ee- 
member the emblems in the Tabernacle and Temple, which 
were the emblems of real things to come.] "so that the} 
are without excuse: because that when they knew God they 
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became 
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart w^as dark- 
ened.^^ [I recall your mind to my definition of the word 
''heart/' the seat of man's intellectual reason.] "Professing 
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the 
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to 
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to un- 
ci eann ess through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor 
their own bodies between themselves: who changed the 
truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creat- 
ure more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: lor 
even their women did change the natural use into that which 
is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 147 

natural use of tlie woman, burned in their lust one towaxd 
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, 
and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error 
which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain 
God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate 
mind, to do those things which are not convenient: being 
filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, cov- 
eteousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, deba,te, de- 
ceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despite- 
ful, proud, boasters, inventers of evil things, disobedient to 
parents, ^nthout understanding, covenant-breakers, without 
natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the 
judgment of God, that they which commit such things are 
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in 
them that do them.'^ In the above enumeration you can 
find the seven seals which closed up the understanding — 
the heart of the Jew, which was the book in the right hand 
of him that sat upon the throne. 

Now turn to Jeremiah, chapter 23: "For both prophet 
and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their 

wickedness, saith the Lord And I have seen folly 

in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and 
caused mxy people Israel to err. I have seen also in the 
prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing : they commit adult- 
ery, and walk in lies; they strengthen also the hands of 
evil-doers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they 
are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants 
thereof as Gomorrah.^^ This entire chapter contains curses 
against the priests and prophets who prophesied falsely for 
the accomplishment of their heinous crimes; but I have 
quoted enough of this to prove what I have said. God never 
felt the same to Israel after Aaron made the golden calf at 



148 Two Thousand Years in EUrnity. 

Sinai. Turn to Acts, chapter 7; in it is much evidence that 
their evil course caused their ignorance or prevented their 
enlightenment; that they thus caused the death of Jesus, 
Who was the Messiah, contrary to the original designs of 
God; and it is certain that because they refused to carry 
out the original plans they were culpable and chargeable 
for the great and terrific destruction of the nations of the 
whole earth, for it was God^s design to convert the nations, 
and not destroy, which is clearly set forth in the Scriptures; 
that he had no pleasure in the, death of any, but wanted all 
to turn unto Him. But we must turn to the chapter re- 
ferred to, where one Stephen was telling the people how 
that Moses was brought up and appointed to bring the 
Israelite out of bondage and did so, and said : "This is that 
Moses which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet 
shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, 
like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he that was in the 
church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him 
in the Mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the 
lively oracles to give unto us: to whom our fathers would 
not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts 
turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us 
gods to go before us : for as for this Moses, which brought us 
out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 
And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice 
unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 
Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host 
of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ye 
house of Isarel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacri- 
fices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, 
ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your 
god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them; and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 149 

I will carry you away beyond Babylon/^ [See Romans, 
ch. 3.] 

"Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, 
ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so 
do ye. AYliich of the prophets have not your fathers per- 
secuted? And they have slain them which showed before 
of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now 
the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law \)j , 
the disposition of angels and have not kept it/' 

Xow you see that Moses spoke to them of the "One'' 
to come' — the Messiah, but not that it was necessary that 
He be killed in order to show them the way in which their 
God wanted them to walk had they obeyed the law, for this 
is foolish, and not common-sense ; but from the blindness 
of the Jews, they did not recognize Him as the One spoken 
of by Moses, nor understand His teaching. They expected 
one to rise up in regal style, overthrow the heathen nations 
that held rule over them, and re-establish them under the 
law; but seeing that the doctrine of this man Jesus was not 
only likely to do away with the necessity of the law, but over- 
throw the government of all other nations, they sought to 
kill Him. (they were surely blind), for He was admitting the 
Gentiles, a thing they could not understand, and hence He 
was called a "stimibling-stone" to the Jews : and so He was ; 
but it is said, •'He that believeth on Him shall not be con- 
founded" — that is, at this period of intelligence he is able 
to comprehend by the light of Christ's teaching the whole 
plan and object of salvation, so that he need never again 
be in doubt or error as to the will of God concerning him. 

Now, before turning to the Scriptures in regard to the 
blinding of i he Jews, I ask you to revert to former pages of 
this book, where I have stated that when God changed His 



150 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

plans from the gradual operation of the law, which the 
Jews wonld not obe}^, it was necessary that they be kept 
blind, and not healed or restored nnder the law, until such 
time in the history of man when this new system could and 
would be accomplished and not defeated. 

Turn to Isaiah, chapter 6, and read the doom of poor 
Israel as it was recorded in heaven before the throne of Grod, 
and heralded through the nations by the prepared lips of 
this noble and dignified propliet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, 
in the year that King ITzziah died; and then let your heart 
go out in sorrow for a nation, once so highly favored of God, 
who might have been a teacher of the great and mighty 
truths of eternal life: but now, alas! the Lord, seeing no 
hope of them raising their minds above the carnal lusts of 
heathen brutality a.nd the stupefying influence of idol wor- 
snip, cast them olf that they must remain in darkness, and 
take their chances with all other heathen nations in the 
great plan of salvation, through Jesus the Christ. Then 
]et your mind wander on to the time of the great event in 
the history of the world, when this Holy One of Israel, 
spoken of by Moses, now in the body of Jesus, traveling on 
to Jerusalem, called the Holy City, where He knew He would 
be crucified, ("For," said He, "it can not be that a prophet 
perish out of Jerusalem/') and listen to His lamentations 
as He looked down upon that bloody city from the summit 
of the surrounding mountains: "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent 
unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, 
and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you 
desolate/' 

Now before reading the sixth chapter of Isaiah spokei; 



Tiuo Thousand Years in Eternity.- 151 

of, I wish to call your attention to the fact that this book 
of Isaiah is a vision, •'Vhich he saw concerning Jndah and 
Jerusalem in the days of ITzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze- 
kiah, kings of Judah/' and that the "tree of life" seen in 
the garden of Eden now appears as the "Word of God'' in 
the vision, always attended by two w'itnesses — the two cheru- 
binis; and again we can not otherwise conclude than that 
Isaiah expressed the ideas and understanding he obtained 
b}^ the vision in what he considered the most forcible lan- 
guage and manner, in that very remote period in which 
Isaiah himself could not thoroughly understand their mean- 
ing as they appeared to him from time to time; and with 
this w^e will now read a part of it: "In the year that 
King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, 
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above 
it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain 
he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and 
with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and 
said. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth 
is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at 
the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with 
smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because 
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dw^ell in the midst of a 
people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, 
the Lord of Hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto 
me, having a live coal in his hand, w^hich he had taken with 
the tongs from oil the altar : and he laid it upon my mouth, 
and said, Lo, this hath touched th}- lips; and thine iniquity 
is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice 
of the Lord, saying. Whom shall I send, and who will go 
for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said. 
Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand' 



152 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart 
of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their 
e5^es: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 
and understand with their hearts, and convert, and be 
healed. I'hen said I, Lord, how long?" [Weigh well the 
answer, for we will have to speak more particularly of this 
^^purpose against the whole earth,*' and remember that the 
prophetic account of this change in God's operation begins 
with this book of Isaiah.] "And he answered. Until the 
cities be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses with- 
out man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord 
have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking 
in the midst of the land." 

Let us now pass on in the history, about thirty-three 
years after Isaiah had witnessed the above, and the burden 
against many nations had been made known to him, and 
see again what he has to say about this important event 
of the blinding of the Jews, and his manner of describing 
the vision as a book sealed ; and it is the same book which 
John saw on the isle of Patmos, by the vision— the heart 
of man — the seat of his intellectual understanding. You 
will find it in the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, as fol- 
lows: "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! 
.... Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: 
they are drunken, but not with wine, they stagger, but not 
with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon 
you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the 
prophets, and" your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And 
the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book 
that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, say- 
ing, Piead this, I pray thee: and he saith, I can not; for it 
is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 153 

learned, saying, Tiead this, I pray thee: and he sayeth, 1 am 
not learned. Wherefore the T^ord said. Forasmuch as this 
people draw near me with their mouths, and with their lips 
do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and 
their fear toward me is tauglit ly the precept of men: there- 
fore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among 
this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the 
wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understand- 
ing of their prudent men shall be hid/' 

!^^ow let us turn to the fifth chapter of Eevelation (I 
don't know why this should be called "Eevelation" any more 
than the book of Isaiah, for the word seems to confuse the 
people's mind who read and creates a distinction without 
a difference, if you will allow me the expression), where this 
whole matter passed in review before John on the isle of 
Patmos a short time before the prophecy was fulfilled and 
the vision sealed up; i. e., I mean the time when there was 
no more vision. I suppose that John was the last to know 
anything of the Word of God by the vision; and the blind- 
ness of the Jews (and the whole world) was described, by 
John a« follows: "And I saw in the right hand of him that 
sat on the throne a book written within and on the back- 
side, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel 
proclaiming with a loud voice. Who is worthy to open the 
book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heav- 
en, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open 
the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, be- 
cause no man was found worthy to open and to read the 
book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith 
unto me. Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, 
the Root of David, hath prevailed io open the book, and 
to loose the seven seals thereof, Ajid I beheld, and, lo, in 



154 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the 
midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, hav- 
ing seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits 
of God sent forth into all the earth/^ [Now do not forget 
what I have said on former pages in regard to the seven 
spirits of the carnal man, or the spirits called in requisition 
to minister to the absolute necessities of the human body, 
which may, either and all, become excessive in their de- 
mands.] "And he came and took tJie book out of the right 
hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had 
taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders 
fell doAAai before the Iamb, having every one of them harps, 
and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of 
saints. xVnd they sang a new song, saying. Thou art worthy 
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out 
of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and 
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall 
reign on the earth.^^ 

Now is not this sufFicient ? Do you not yet understand 
the blinding of the Jews by their carnal lusts, and the open- 
ing of the book of man^s understanding by Jesus the Christ ? 
If not, let us go on. Since Jesus was to bring salvation or 
a knowledge of the true God to the whole world of man, 
let us see how the whole creation rejoiced when the entire 
plan was understood (but allow me to say here, that while 
the cause is safe and the name of the true God is established 
on earth in the hearts of men, who will retain, defend, and 
spread it, the plan by which it was established is not yet 
understand, even in tl\e so-called Christian cliurches) : "And 
I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about 
the throne and the beasts aud the elders: and the number 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 155 

of tliein was ten thousaiid times ten thousand, and thou- 
sands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wis- 
dom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And 
every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and 
under the earthy and such as are in the sea, and all that 
are in them, heard I saying. Blessing, and honor, and glory, 
and power, be unto. him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lomb, for ever and ever. And the four beasts 
said. Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell do^vn and 
worshiped him that liveth for ever and ever." This is the 
tiuie when the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God, 
as He swore to Moses at the widerness of Paran; and the 
day will come in the history of the world when the four and 
twenty elders will fall down and worship him that liveth 
for ever and ever. 

N'ow while this great book which was seen in the right 
hand of him that sat on the throne, written within and on 
the backside and sealed with seven seials, has been opened 
so that you and I can read its pages and understand its con- 
tents, and I have shown you in the book of Isaiah, beyond a 
doubt or possible misunderstanding, when and how it was 
closed up aud sealed, and was to remain so to all the world 
until the Messiah prevailed to open it to mankind, I wish 
to show you one very remarkable feature in the operations 
of God: the power of His Spirit in the hearts of men, and 
the gigantic achievenients of the great and wonderful man 
Daniel; second to none who ever lived upon the ea.rth, and 
was so considered by the man Jesus. This estimable prophet 
Daniel prevailed to open the book and look upon it a short 
time, for himself, and then closed it up again till the time 
of the end; he was allowed to understand the vision, but 



156 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

none else. As I will have to refer to this part of Daniel's 
prophecy and give much of it in detail on future pages of 
this work; I Avill now simply refer you to the vision which 
he saw while in the palace at Shushan,- on the banks of the 
river Ulai, the third year of the reign of Belshazzar. This 
was the vision of the ram and the he-goat, in which was 
shown how and whence arose the Antichrist, his terrific 
reign, cruel punishment of the saints and holy people, the 
magnitude of his power, and overwhelming destruction. In 
this vision is also seen (as in others) the Son or Word of 
God; between the banks of the Ulai, attended by the two 
angels — the two saints; and after Daniel had seen the vis- 
ion as shown in chapter 8, he asked that he might under- 
stand it, which was granted him, as follows : "And it came 
to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision^ and 
sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before 
me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice 
between the banks of Ulari, ivhich called, and said, Gabriel, 
make this man to understand the vision. So he came near 
w^here I stood : and when he came, I was afraid, and fell 
upon my face: but he said unto me. Understand, son of 
man; for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now 
as he was speaking with me, 1 w^as in a deep sleep on my 
face toward the ground: but he touched me and set me up- 
right. And he said. Behold, I will make thee know what 
shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time 
appointed the end shall be.*' Then the vision was ex- 
plained; after which, he said: "The vision of the evening 
and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut 
thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And 1 
Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose 
up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at 
the vision, lut none understood it/' 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 157 

Again, in the first year of the reign of King Darius, as 
seen in r-hapter 9, he said: "I Daniel understood bv books 
the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord 
came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he ayouM accomplish 
seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set 
my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and suppli- 
cations, with fasting, and sach cloth, and ashes/^ This was 
to entreat the Lord to let him understand what was to be 
the destiny of his people — yet believing they were to T)e 
restored under the Old Law. And he said: "Whiles I was 
speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen 
in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, 
touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And 
he informed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, 
I am now come forth to give the skill and understanding. 
At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment 
came forth, and 1 am come to show thee ; for thou art great- 
ly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider 
the vision.^' And so it was in all of DanieFs prophecies, 
he was permitted to have a very clear understanding of the 
•vision so that he could give even the time of certain im- 
portant events with great accuracy; but the book was again 
closed up to all the world until the time of the Messiah; he 
himself, knowing the power of the Spirit of God, in his 
heart daily supplicated God, or prayed to that Spirit within 
him, to give him wisdom; and always strove to protect his 
l)ody, the temple in which that Spirit dwelt, that it be not 
defiled. 

These visions concerning the end of time or destruc- 
tion that was to come upon all the nations of the earth, and 
the salvation of God's people, were mysterious, even to the 
prophets themselves, and to a great extent to the apostles 



158 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

in after days. They knew that some appalling doom hung 
over the whole earth: that nations and kingdoms would 
be broken down .and destroyed and the land be desolated, 
and that some means would be provided by which seed 
should be saved to again populate it; but they did not un- 
derstand when nor how the consumption would be brought 
about: nor did they understand the plan of salvation by the 
Word of God, always seen emblematically in the vision, ever 
attended by the two witnesses that were to prove Him to be 
the Son of God after He appeared in the flesh, in the time 
of this terrific struggle. And as they are important char- 
acters in the vision, and on whom would rest such arduous 
and painful duties in the days of sore trial and afflictions, 
which were to come in the last days, before closing this 
chapter I will tax your patience by presenting them to you 
once more in a different manner, as seen in the vision of 
Zeehariah (ch. -1), in the form of olive trees, which are em- 
blematic of light, because they grew the olive from which 
was taken tlie oil to fill their lamps. The two cherubims 
placed in the Temple were also made of olive wood and 
overland with gold. Zeehariah said the angel that talked 
with him came again, and waked him as a man that is waked 
out of his sleep, and said to him: "What seest thou? And 
T said, 1 have looked, and behold a candlestick, all of gold, 
with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, 
and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which were upon the 
top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right 
side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 
So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, 
saying. What are these, my lord? Then the angel that 
talked with me answered and said unto me. Knowest thou 
not what these be? And I said, Xo, my lord. . . . Then 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 159 

answered 1, and said unto him, What are these two olive 
trees npon the right side of the candlestick and upon the 
left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto 
him, Wliat be these two olive branches which through the 
two golden pipes empt}' the golden oil out of themselves? 
And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these 
bo ? And I said. No, my lord. Then said he, These are the 
two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole 
earth/' 

Here we find the^e cherubims occupying the more com- 
prehensible position of furnishing unmistakable testimony 
in support of Christ, the great and resplendent Light by 
which we were permitted to see and understand from its 
beginning the sublime system of salvation, by which the 
Creator brought us to a knowledge of that Cod who rules 
the universe, and enables us to understand His commands 
through the Spirit. 

In conclusion, I would ask you, after tracing this sub- 
ject through the Scriptures, to tell me. Did it ever occur to 
you, that as this great Light, this Golden Bowl, was clothed 
with a human body, that man might look upon it and un- 
derstand its system of radiation, that these two olive 
branches also became flesh and blood and were presented in 
human form, that other human beings might see how they 
emptied their golden oil through the golden pipes into the 
golden bowl, until the light in all of its refulgence was 
established, continuous, and self-supporting? Yes, these 
are the two witnesses spoken of in Eevelation, chapter 11: 
"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they 
shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, 
clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and 
the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 
. . . . And when they shall have finished their testi- 



160 Two Thousand Years in Eternity.. 

mony, the bea?t that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit 
shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and 
kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street 
of the great city, which . spiritually is called Sodom and 
Egypt, where also onr Lord was crucified. And they of the 
people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see 
their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suf- 
fer their dead bodies to be put in graves And 

after three days and an half, the Spirit of life from God 
entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and 
great fear fell upon them which saw them. x\nd they heard 
a great voice from heaven, saying unto them. Come up 
hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud: and 
their enemies b-cheld them. And the same hour was there 
a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and 
in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and 
the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the Grod 
of heaven. 

They died in the city of Jerusalem and were resar- 
rected, and while you may have been taught otherwise, raid 
we have no subsequent history of the event, neverthless it 
is and must be as true as that Jesus rose from the tomb 
of Joseph and asceiided up to heaven in the presence of wit- 
nesses. For you must remember that while there was no 
subsequent detailed account to be given of the destruction 
of the earth by watei*, nor of Sodom by fire and brimstone, 
neither were we to reaid the details of the sorrow, wailing, 
and torture experienced in these days of God's visitation, 
and the most horrifying destruction and, purging the earth 
will ever undergo. There was no record made after those 
days of horror set in, and the miserable, dark, and chaotic 
age supervened upon the immense slaughter of the human 
family in the destruction of Antichrist. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 161 



CHAPTEE IX. 

The Messiah Promised and Attending Prophecy. 

About the time the Jews were discarded, and the book 
sealed, we find the Messiah spoken of in a definite manner 
for the first lime, in a vision by Isaiah, addressed to King 
Ahaz; and the New Testament begins with this event in 
the revelation of Isaiah, and is a history of Jesus — His life, 
death, and resurrection; and it is necessary that the two 
Scriptures ccrrespond from the book of Isaiah forward, as 
they both speak of and refer to the same thing: the one 
in prophecy, and the other part prophecy and part history 
of real acts; both coiuprise the whole plan of salvation, the 
second destruction of the world, and establishing it under 
the rule of the Spirit of God. Jesus the Christ was the 
medium and direct agent of Grod through Whom the «^hole 
plan was carried out and His r bjects accomplished; and the 
designs and work so harjnoniously agree in the two that I 
am forced to the belief that the entire book was the pro- 
duction of a single author, who could not possibly have been 
any other than ihe omniscient Spirit in the hearts of differ- 
ent men. Although the language and manner varies in dif- 
fereiit parts of the work, we can see clearly that the writers 
all have refereuce to the same events and conditions con- 
tained in the design of the Creator at the beginning. 
Therefore, to wholly understand the operations of God in 
the plan of salvation, we must read the two in connection, 
and will thus find that every description of important events 



162 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

of a general character written out in the old Smptures has 
its counterpart somewhere in the new. 

The Messiah was lirst mentioned in the seventh chap- 
ter of Isaiah, in the following manner : "Moreover the Lord 
spake again unto Ahaz, saying^ Ask thee a sign of the Lord 
thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 
And he said, Jlear ye now, house of David; Is it a small 
thing for yon to weary men, hut will ye weary my God also ? 
Therefore the Lord himself , shall give you a sign: Behold, 
a \irgin shall conceive, and hear a son, and shall call his 
name ImraanucV 

The New Testament begins with this event, and in the 
first chapter of Matthew the writer quotes- the above, thus: 
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth 
a son, and they shall call his name Emmafnuel.^^ 

N'ow in the beginning of this history of the Messiah, 
both prophetic and in real life, in order that you look at the 
great object of the whole matter, and not place too much 
stress on the style of writing, or attach too much import- 
ance to the writer, or even the apostles, allow. me to call 
your attention to one or more facts suitable for your calm 
and private reflections. I"irst, the writers of the New Tes- 
tament, in using and ti'auirferiing the language of the Old, 
do not always make a verbatim quotation; which you will 
see by the above and in many other places. This shows 
that they wrote by or accord iiig to the general impression 
uf the whole matter upon their minds, not pausing to think 
what improper impressions might be made upon the minds 
of the ignorant by these slight discrepancies; and thus they 
wrote out all past and portrayed coming events, using their 
own language according to the ideas they conceived, with 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 163 

a full purpose of heart, however, to convey the truth. Next, 
I beg of you to remember that all prophets, apostles, and 
writers were but human beings, subject to all the infirmi- 
ties of man, and that you examine the work so you may 
understand what was really the standing of an inspired man 
at that ag'e and what constituted him such. And you will 
see there are far more inspired men at the present age, 
though their duties are not at all the same, and that there 
is nothing miraculous about inspiration to us — or, at least, 
should not be. But as this subject alone would require 
much time to do it justice, I will return to the topic of this 
chapter, after saying that, separate from the power that 
wat= given them to perform miracles that the Christ be glo- 
rified, they had no advantage, in understanding the great 
system of salvation, over any man of equal intelligence at 
the present day who is guided by that same agent which 
constituted them "inspired" — that is, the Spirit of God, or 
"Spirit of Truth"; and surely no man in the Christian be- 
lief at this age of our Lord^s world would have the hardi- 
hood to say that we are not in possession of that same agent. 
Indeed, I believe the standard of morality and knowledge 
of the operations of God, with many individuals of the pres- 
ent age, is far above that of some, at least, of the apostles 
under its guidance. Peter, for example, like theologians of 
the present, could not understand how the new theory could 
exist without at least parts of the old, and be correct. 

Let us now go back to chapter ?', of Isaiah, at which 
point in the history, God changed His manner of operation 
to bring salvation to the world > and in this system he be- 
gins to appeal to the intelligence of man, or, rather, to lay 
out the road and set up such marks from point to point that 
when human intelligence was sufficiently developed (at 



164 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

which time this whole system was to culminate), man could 
look back and clearly understand that none other than the 
omnipotent hand of the unseen God could have traced it 
upon the trestle-board. It was then expected and demand- 
ed that men everywhere avail themselves of all means to 
become acquainted with that God which was the object of 
the system; and here the first fruits wer€ realized — that is, 
salvation. And the writer speaks of the matter in the fol- 
lowing words: "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of 
God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto 
gold, or silver, or stone, graven by airt and man's device. 
And the time of this ignorance God winked at; but now 
commandeth all men everywhere to repent : because he hath 
appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in 
righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; where- 
of he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath 
raised him from the dead.'' (Acts, ch. 17.) 

Paul in writing to the Hebrews speaks of this oppor- 
tunity given to the whole world to accept a knowledge of 
God, which was tJie day of salvation, and dated its beginning 
with the advent of Christ (not Jesus) to the days when the 
preaching of the Gospel to the nations and people of all the 
earth was finished, and miracles ceased; consequentl}^, those 
who believed not then could not enter into the coming king- 
dom as it was to them, viiiich is the one in which we live, but 
must ever remain as the heathen of to-day. But we will 
return to our subject. 

God did abandon Israel and the Jewish system of sal- 
vation, except a sufficient numl^er to make good His words 
or covenant Avith David, and establish His name. Messiah 
was to come of the house of David, of the tribe of Judah, 
God had thus spoken, and hence it must be; He was to be 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 165 

born of a virgin, because it was thus prophesied, and if He 
come not in that manner, tlien was the prophet not from 
God: and so it continues through the Scriptures; the Old 
Testament is fraught with declarations relative to the life, 
adventures, and death of the Messiah, and the ^ew records 
the acts of Jesus as they transpire; and if the latter cor- 
responds as a parallel line to the former, then was Jesus 
the Christ the man of God spoken of by the prophets, fit 
to receive and entertain the Spirit of the Father, and be 
the faithful Witness of the God of heaven and executor of 
His will. Otherwise He was not; for God's declarations 
must be verified among men to prove His omnipotence and 
omniscience. This was God^s system to establish His name, 
and hence we see in the ^ew Testament such expressions 
as, "All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken of the Lord by the prophet,'^ "That the Scriptures 
might be fulfilled,^' and others of a like character. But 
these expressions are calculated to convey to some extent 
an erroneous idea in regard to the fulfilling of the Script- 
ures or prophecies, and I doubt not that many in that day 
among the followers of Christ, and even the a^postles, had 
an improper understanding of this matter, and perhaps 
thought they could and were acting a certain part in the 
great drama of life, simply because it had been said by the 
prophets in ages past, that someone would do so. This they 
never could have done; it is and was impossible for man to 
act and perform a written, stated part in national life; but 
they were only living and being governed by the circum- 
stances and conditions of the suroundings in that age of the 
world under the influence of the knowledge of the Spirit of 
God, which had been introduced to them of that genera- 
tion, to whose lot it had fallen in the regular progress of 



166 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the growth and development of the world, according to the 
original organized plan. And God, knowing that such 
would be in the regular course of advancement, as well as 
all things that would he enacted in the process of develop- 
ment, and maturing the world, which is the plant He had 
originally designed, did tell the people of the earth by the 
mouth of His prophets what would be done at this age and 
time of which we speak, to prove to them His omniscience. 
These things did not transpire because the prophet said so, 
for the statement or declaration of a prophet couldnot change 
the regular course; but if it came not to pass what he had 
said, then he was in error, having had wrong impressions 
and conveying erroneous ideas, just as men do to-day about 
certain future events; and the man who devotes his whole 
time and attention to any one thing, and studies it most 
thoroughly, is most likely to be correct, and so it was \^^Lth 
the prophets to whom these visions were presented, for we 
must remember there were many prophets in the world at 
that time, who doubtless saw the vision, but we have only 
the statement of a very few. We must also consider that 
the viTiters of the New Testament used very poor language 
to express their ideas, which, together with their own im- 
perfect understanding, necessitates a scrutiny of the words 
of the prophets as well as the written acts, in order for us 
to obtain a proper understanding. 

In reading over the prophecies, bear in mind that it 
is almost, and I hold that it is, impossible for one man to 
describe a scene so as to convey the identical impression 
to the mind of another that was made on his. The proph- 
ets were also human beings, and the language imperfect by 
which they depicted those events that were to transpire 
hundreds of years thereafter; aild hence we may see how 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 167 

difficult, and indeed impossible, to give a very definite and 
detailed description, so that events in their minutiae would 
correspond to the letter. >Tor was this necessary beyond 
a portraj'^al of each, such as would be recognized, to the sat- 
isfaction of the minds of those who were to come after. 

Now, that God had made a very great change in His 
system of operation may easily be determined by a close ex- 
amination of the Scriptures before and after. Previous to 
this time God evidently expected something of Israel, as an 
example before the world, and hence He instructed them 
from time to time in their duties and His designs against 
other nations, and almost constantly they were given exam- 
ples of His power to save amd protect them against the com- 
bined powers of the earth. But alas! forbearance finally 
ceased to be a virtue, and He gave them up to the miserable 
blindness and ignorance produced by their filthy, debauch- 
ing lusts, and set about the work of showing them His power 
to destroy was coequal with that He had exercised in their 
defense, saying with great determination, "They shall know 
that I am God," and did decree from His throne in the 
heavens that they should be brought under the heavy and 
galling yoke of a mighty and remorseless nation. And the 
books of prophecy are full of declarations of God, by the 
prophets, of His intention to destroy Israel and banish 
Judah and scatter them to all the nations of the whole 
world; and while God was in all of His operations working 
for His own name and glory, His omniscience was as clearly 
vshown by foretelling the sore affliction and punishment of 
that people, which was determined by Him after He saw 
they would persist in idolatry as it was in foretelling their 
salvation and the salvation of the world by the Messiah. 
And hence you see the necessity for the Gentile world to 



168 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

reach its full acme of power, and the transgression of the 
Jews to be finished according to prophecy. But he had ap- 
pointed a Savior of the Avorld in the Messiali, at the time 
this decree of destrnction went forth, Who was ♦also to re- 
deem Israel after they had been sufficiently refined by the 
fires and sore punishment of that smelting furnace into 
which He had determined to hurl, them; whence but few 
should come, as the small portion of silver from the mass 
of ore. 

Here I call your attention to a very important matter, 
and ask that you examine the first few chapters of Isaiah, 
portions of which I have quoted on former pages of this 
book, to determine for yourself that as in the days of Noah, 
when wickedness was likely to blot out the name of God 
on the earth, He decreed an overwhelming destruction of 
all living things except what were saved in the ark, so now, 
when all nations were completely submerged in heathen 
idolatry, and the name of God was only retained in the 
minds of a few individuals, He did again decree, and record 
before His throne in the heavens, an overflowing destruc- 
tion of all nations, and the breaking down of all organized 
powers set up against Him, that those individuals who rec- 
ognized Him as the omnipotent God be able to rise up and 
finally become the controlling power on the earth. This 
decree went forth the year that King Ahaz died, and was 
called a"purpose upon the whole earth/' also a"burden''and 
^^consumption''; and as a preparatory step, all the nations 
of the earth. were forced under heathen rule and made sub- 
ject to their gods, where they properly belonged. And 
while there was but one prophetic declaration relati^-e 
to the fiood of 'N'oah, He now inaugurates a system of 
prophecies upon this particular subject in connection with 



Tvjo Thousand Years in Eternity. 169 

the coming Messiah;, which constitutes the whole theme of 
the Scriptures from this time forward; so that at the final 
consummation of all things pertaining thereto, those who 
believed in the God of heaven might know be^^ond the shad- 
ow of a doubt that it was the work of His own hands, and 
not the gods of the earth; and not only so, as God knew 
and told the end from the beginning, so man could and 
would know the beginning from the end; and openly chal- 
lenged the gods of the earth to show forth their power by 
doing similar things, as we will see by subsequent quota- 
tions. Now the embodiment of this work was in the man 
Jesus, Who proved by His acts to be the Christ, and was 
nothing more than a continuation of the thread of this same 
system of prophecy, which amalgamated with miraculous 
works, emerged into the operation and rule of the Spirit, 
and culminated in a profound and axiomatic fact, that it 
was the Word of God from the beginning of the operations 
of Moses on down through the long and bloody corridors 
of time, till Jesus finished His work in the flesh and went 
to the Father. After this began the operation of the Holy 
Ghost or "Comforter' and the Word or Son of God, came 
no more till the time for the execution of this decree or 
"purpose" above mentioned, or the consummation of those 
things which God gave to Jesus Christ to show unto His 
servants, and He did "signify" them to His. servant John ; 
and it was said that they must shortly come to pass, for the 
time of their execution was even then at hand. Eevelation, 
chapter 1: "The Eevelation of Jesus Christ, which God 
gave unto him, to show uuto his servants things which must 
shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his 
angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word 
of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of ^U 



170 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they 
that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
which are written therein : for the time is at hand/' 

In support of the foregoing, there is so ninch in the 
book of Isaiah, and so systematically arranged, relative to 
the entire work of this period, that I cannot do better than 
to ask yon to read the whole book, relative to the spoiling 
of Israel, the promised Messiah, and the national destrnc- 
tion of the earth and its consequences. As to the object of 
prophecy and God^s challenge, to the gods of the earth to 
show their power, I quote the following (Isaiah, ch. 41): 
^^Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong 
reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them 
forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the 
former things, what they be, that we may consider them, 
and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for 
to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that 
we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, 
that we may be dismayed, and behold it together." Does 
not this corroborate what I have said, that as Israel would 
not regard God for His power to do good for them, they 
should regard Him for His power to do them evil? And 
since He intends now to punish and destroy them nation- 
ally, He in this manner calls attention of the nations to the 
work which He 'will perform, and this contrasts the weight 
and power of the God of heaven with the nothingness of all 
the powers of the earth. The works of God from the begin- 
ning to the intelligent age is a series of testimony proving 
to man that there is but one God, thereby establishing im- 
mortality among His creatures in the beginning of this 
eternal period; and Christ, the Holy One of Israel, is the 
zenith of this system, and called the "faithful Witness." 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 171 

Now that God took the work of salvation in His own 
hands. He provided that it should not fail; as He had sworn 
that all the earth should be filled with His glory, and Irsael 
having gone back to heathenism and worse, being blinded 
by their presumptuous sins, while the heathen were always 
blind, both now need a light to show them the way of the 
true God: the former need a redeemer, and both a Savior; 
they are treated alike in Jesus the Christ. In support of 
this the writer speaks of the Holy One of Israel as folloAvs 
(Isaiah, eh. 42): ^'He shall not fail nor be discouraged, 
till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall 

wait for his law I the Lord have called thee in 

righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, 
and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of 
the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the pris- 
oners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of 
the prison-house. I am the Lord: that is my name: and 
my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to 
graven images.^^ Speaking of Israel's wretched condition, 
and that it was God who brought it on them for disobedi- 
ence and wickedness, the prophet said: "But this is a peo- 
ple robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, 
and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and 
none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Eestore. . . 
Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? 
did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they 
would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient 
unto his law." 

Surely it is plain that the great work of God by His 
prophets and elect was against the gods of the earth, and 
the mission of the Messiah was to point man to the true 
God, and thereby take away the sin of the world, which was 



172 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

idolatry; and the testimony to this effect is too voluminous 
to quote in this work. 

In chapters 43, 44, and 45 there is much testimony to 
the effect that Israel was to he the witness of God: here 
you will see his remonstrances against idolatry; also that in 
their failure the work is placed upon the Holy One of Israel 
of estahlishing the earth upon a foundation and system by 
which it was and is to he operated by the God of heaven, _ 
through His Spirit, on, and still on, "world without end''; 
hut I will only quote a part, which seems enough : "Ye are 
my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have 
chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand 
that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither 
shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and be- 
side me there is no Savior. I have declared, and have saved, 
and I have showed, when there was no strange god among 
you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that / 
am God.'^ Again he goes on to foretell events of impor- 
tance, that they may know, and said this same unseen God 
is the One "that confirm eth the word of his servant, and 
performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to 
Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities 'of 
Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed 
places thereof: that saith to .the deep, Be dry, and I will 
dry up thy rivers: that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, 
and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusa- 
lem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy founda- 
tion shall be laid." We see that God foretold the rebuild- 
ing of Jerusalem while her first walls yet stood^f and of the 
laying of the foundation of the second temple while the 
checkered pavement of JCing Solomon was yet unharmed. 
He also spoke of Cyrus^ who was to issue the proclamation 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 173 

for the reconstruction of the temple, and called him by 
name, long before he was born. This prophecy relative to 
Cyrus was about the year 710 B. C, according to chronol- 
ogy, and the proclamation was made by Cyrus, king of 
Persia, about the year 536 B. C, nearly one hundred and 
seventy-five years after God declared it should be done; and 
the prophet thus speaks of him: "Thus saith the Lord 
to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, 
. . . For Jacob my servant's sake, for Israel mine elect, 
I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, 
though thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there 
is none else, there is no God besides me: I girded thee, 
though thou hast not known me : that they may know from 
the rising of the sun, and from the west that there is none 
besides me. 1 am the Lord, a;nd there is none else.'' About 
seventy-two years before the proclamation by Cyrus, we 
find Jeremiah (ch. 29, v. 10) prophesied of the Jews' return 
to Jerusalem, which was the same thing Daniel said he had 
learned in books, as follows: "For thus saith the Lord 
That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will 
visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in caus- 
ing you to return to this place." This was about 598 years 
B. C, and in the first chapter of Ezra we find the proclama- 
tion by Cyrus; and as it is interesting, to show first how the 
God of heaven operates even to-day to accomplish His pur- 
poses — that is, He operates upon the mind of individuals 
to place within them the idea and determination to do and 
accomplish a certain thing which He wants done; and sec- 
ondly, that as He had determined that Jesus should come 
of the Jews, He places it in the mind of Cyrus to issue a 
proclamation, not only for all nations of the earth to let 
the Jews go to eTeriisalem, but to help them with silver and 



174 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

gold and animals for the journej^; and that the cost of the 
Temple should be paid out of the treasury of King Cyrus; 
and the great work of congregating these people at Jerusa- 
lem was to isolate them, and let all the world see that His 
words were true, thait Jesus was of Judah and the house of 
David; for we see that after they returned to Jerusalem 
and built the city and Temple, they were no better than 
other nations and still under pagan government, and the 
same decree that went forth the year that King Ahaz died 
for the terrible and bloody destruction of aJl the nations of 
the earth, the great judgment of God Almighty, yet hung 
over them as all other nations, and was the first to be exe- 
cuted; so you can see that this second city of Jerusalem and 
the second Temple were already condemned and under sen- 
tence of destruction long before it was built; and God had no 
use for Judah more than any other nation beyond making 
His words good in bringing the man Jesus from that family. 
And I say emphatically, aided by that same Spirit, that this 
is true. For as the unseen God placed in the mind of Cy- 
rus to issue this proclamation. He also placed in my mind 
a fixed determination to write this book; and as Zerubbabel 
laid the foundation of the Temple, and God declared that 
he should finish it, so also am I so confident of the truths 
which I propose to write out in this book that the world 
may have a more intelligent understanding of the true God, 
that I will be permitted to finish it, or at least so nearly^ 
that the people of the Christian world will be able to obtain 
the idea which God has placed in my mind, I now give you 
the proclamation by the heathen king, and ask you to re- 
member that by this time the more intelligent among the 
heathen began to understand, or at least to entertain an 
idea that their gods were not omnipotent nor omniscient: 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 175 

'^'JSTow in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that 
the word of the Lord by the month of Jeremiah might be 
fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of 
Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his 
kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying. Thus saith 
Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given 
me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me 
to build him an house at Jerusalem, wliich is in Judah. 
Who is there among you of all his people ? his God be with 
him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the 
God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in 
any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place 
help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and 
with beasts, beside the freewill-offering for the house of 
God that is in Jerusalem." This was the proclamation made 
by Cyrus and recorded in the province of the Medes, and 
the foundation of the Temple was built; but seventeen years 
thereafter, seeing that the work -went ra^pidly on, Tatnai 
and Shethar-boznai, who were governors in that country, 
made inquiry of the Jews to know their authority for car- 
rying on such a work, and were answered by telling them 
that they were the servants of the God of heaven and earth, 
and that King Cyrus had issued a proclamation to build 
that God a house at Jerusalem, etc. Then these governors 
wrote a letter to Darius, then king, and asked that he would 
seaa-ch or examine the records to know if such a proclama- 
tion had been made, and whether or not these Jews were 
working under proper authority. "Then Darius the king 
made a decree, and search was made in the house of the 
rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And 
there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is ip the 



176 Two Thousand Years in Eterniiy. 

province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus 
written: In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cy- 
rus the king made a decree concerning the house of Cod at 
Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they 
offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strong- 
ly laid: the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth 
thereof threescore cubits; with three rows of great stones, 
and a row of new timber : and let the expenses be given out 
of the king's house: and also let the golden and silver 
vessels of the house of Cod, which Nebuchadnezzar took 
forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought 
unto Babylon, be restorer], and brought again unto the tem- 
pk which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place 
them in the house of God." The above is the proclamation 
of King Cyrus, (God forever Uess His soul!) and the follow- 
ing is the answer to the letter addressed to King Darius 
by Tatnai and Shethar-boznai in regard to the authority of 
the King of the world to build the Temple and the city of 
Jerusalem, which was the emblem of the world under the 
rule of the Spirit of Cod. This is the letter in reply by 
King Darius: ''Now, therefore Tatnai, governor beyond 
the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Aphar- 
sachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: 
Let the work of this house of Cod alone: let the governor 
of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of 
Cod in his place. Moreover I make a decree what ye shall 
do to the elders of the Jews for the building of this house 
of Cod: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute be- 
yond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, 
that they be not hindered. And that which they have need 
of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt 
offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, 



Tiuo Thousand Yea)^ in Eternity. 177 

according to the appoint)nent of the priests which are at 
Jerusalem, let it be given them da.y by day without fail: 
that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto the God 
of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his 
sons. Also I have made a decree that whosoever shall alter 
this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and 
being set up, let him be hanged thereon; aaid let his house 
be made a dunghill for this. And the God that hath caused 
his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that 
shall put their hand to alter, and to destroy this house of 
God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; 
let it be done with speed.^^ And so it was. 

In chapter 46 the Lord, by the mouth of the prophet, 
ridicules idols and idolatrv, and shows that their gods are 
a burden instead of a protection; and in chapter 48, He 
gives His reasons for foretelling future events, saying: "I 
Ijave even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it 
came to pass I shewed it thee; lest thou shouldest say. My 
idols hath done them; and my graven image, and my mol- 
ten image, hatli commanded therii.'' Idolatry was the sin 
of the world ; and Christ took it away, or was the beginning 
of tha.t system which shall culminate in its utter destruction. 

In the first part of this chapter we also find that be- 
cause Israel claimed the God of heaven as their God, and 
yet did so wickedly before other nations, that He was neces- 
sitated to work for His name, and that from that time on 
Israel was used simply as a tool in the hands of God to 
bring about events according to His declarations, the prin- 
cipal one being to bring the Messiah from the tribe of 
Judah; and shows conclusively, in verses 6, %, and 8, that 
after the Jews were blinded or backslidden into heathen- 
ism. He did inaugurate a new system, which was not from 



178 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the beginning, and was carried on independent of Israel's 
conduct, because they had proven themselves unworthy the 
trust reposed in them, being treacherous and false, would 
certainly have proved a colossal impediment in the way of 
establishing the name of God on the earth, had they been 
left to their own will in prosperity; and hence He said: "I 
have shoAved thee new things, from this time, even hidden 
things, and thou didst not know them. They are created 
now, and not from the beginning;'^ [Mark this expression, 
and remember the change in God^s operation shown in the 
garden of Eden after the fall of Adam.] "even before the 
day when thou heardst them not, lest thou shouldst say. 
Behold I knew them. Yea, thou heardst not; yea, thou 
knowest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not 
opened: for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacher- 
ously, and was called a transgressor from the womb/' He 
did change His system of operation. 

And now, that it is not for Israel's benefit, nor for any 
righteous acts of theirs, but that this system be carrier] 
out, and God's name established by the Messiah, and that 
He used Israel as a tool instead of destroying them as they 
deserved, we have the following: "For my name's sake will 
I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, 
that I cut thee not off." And the Scriptures show subse- 
quently that after the advent of the Messiah, and His mis- 
sion was ended, that the judgment which was declared did 
begin at the house of the Lord, and the Jews were destroyed 
nationally as was declared, and all things were done in that 
age. On the other hand, had Israel obeyed God, they would 
have remained a nation perpetual, as was undoubtedly in- 
tended: and hence it was said of them: "Oh that thou hadst 
hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 179 

a-s a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 
thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy 
bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have 
been cut off, nor destroyed from before me/^ 

Chapter 49 shows also that the mission of Christ was 
not only to be a redeemer of Israel, but a light and Savior 
to the Gentiles, even to the end of the earth, and again it 
is said. He is given as a covenant to the people, 'Ho estdblisli 
the earth"; and when thus established, it certainly was, ac- 
cording to any tliinking mind, but just ready to begin its 
career which perhaps — yea, will never end. 

The mission of the Messiah is shown clear enough by 
the general tenor of the Scriptures; but it is summed up in 
a nutshell in Isadah, chapter 55 : "Behold I have given him 
for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to 
the people." And so he did testify of God, even to the very 
last act upon the cross, as the Scriptures and apostles also 
testified of him. 

^ow T do not wish to differ too widely from the general 
and settled opinions upon those points of vital importance, 
since the minds of all those deeply interested in the great 
plan of salvation have been trained in a rigid school to run 
in one certain channel, and it being so difficult to unlearn 
those things once accepted as true, or to keep the mind out 
of the old groove, it may be best to avoid too great violence 
to old opinions, though they be obtained at a period in the 
past when man's reason and understanding of the opera- 
tions of God were less developed. Nevertheless, I desire, be- 
fore leaving this subject, to make one more remark relative 
to the Messiah, and the cause of His affliction and ignomin- 
ious death» I must first call to your mind the fact that the 
Scriptures teach that man was his own free agent, to obey 



180 Ttvo Thousand Years in Eternity 

or disobey the commands, and to choose between good and 
evil, life and death: and that while God did forelmow all 
things, it is no argument whatever against the position that 
they might have been different had man nsed his power for 
good, as he could have done, instead of succumbing to evil; 
or, in other words, had he constantly done that which he 
knew within his own heart was his duty in everyday life, 
instead of seeking for such pleasures and privileges as were 
demanded by the physical man. Therefore, while the Christ 
was termed "a La,mb slain from the foundation of the 
world, ^^ it only argues that God in His omniscience did 
know that His agents would fail, or be enthralled by the 
wickedness of the world, and so blinded to His operations 
that they would murder the Son as soon as He was clothed 
with a body of flesh and began the work of establishing a 
rival system of government and worship. Nor did the 
transgression of Adam directly necessitate the crucifixion; 
for the "flaming sword which turned every way to keep the 
way of the tree of life" only shows that the fruit of the 
tree of knowledge at that premature age had but opened 
up to men such avenues of lasciviousness and horrible fleshly 
lusts, that would lead him so far away from the true and 
living God, a.s to subject him to the sorrow and painful 
necessity of marching steadily and slowly on down, age after 
age, and cycle after cycle, through seas of blood ere he 
should again come in reach of the glorious tree of life, or 
be counted worthy to taste of its vitalizing fruit. But as 
time rolled on, and the period arrived at which the acts of 
Israel had become so obnoxious to God that after genera- 
tions could see they had failed, and fallen far short of accom- 
plishing the designs which had been laid out for^them, be- 
ing so blinded by their sins, and yet so egotistic as to sup- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 181 

pose and declare themselves to be the people of the God 
of heaven^ while there were no distingnishing features be- 
tween them and all other heathen nations, then it was God 
discarded them and introduced the Messiah prophetically 
for man^s consideration. His life and ignominious death 
at the hands of His own people were also foretold ; and when 
once made public by the holy prophets, as a sign of the 
omniscience of God, it was impossible that the work of re- 
demption and salvation be accomplished short of the shed- 
ding of the blood of the Christ, as you ^dll readily see; and 
Israel was culpable for the murderous deed. Now God 
could prove Himself to be the only God of power and wis- 
dom by foretelling the acts of the Messiah and the Jews 
with, other important events, and the painful and arduous 
duty of verifying His words fell upon Jesus, in whom the 
Word of God was embodied. Who thus redeemed Israel and 
saved the world. 

In support of the fact that the transgression and con- 
sequent blindness of the Jews was the cause of the mal- 
treatment of the Messiah, and His cruel death, we have the 
following in Isaiah, chapter 53. Please reaid it in full and 
observe that the writer was speaking of Israel, to w^hom the 
law was given ; and said : "Surely he hath borne our griefs, 
and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, 
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our 
transgressions, he Avas bruised for our iniquities: the chas- 
tisement of our peace v^as upon him; and with his stripes 
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have 
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid 

on him the iniquity of us all For he was cut ofP 

out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my 
people was be stricken," The above se^ms to be quite suffi- 



182 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

cient for any reasonable mind. Daniel said (chapter 9) that 
the Messiah should be cut o% ^'iDut not for himself." 

iN'ow while the death of the Messiah was brought about 
by the failure and transgression of Israel, it can be easily 
understood that when He fulfilled the prophecies made hun- 
dreds of years before, and completed His testimony on the 
cross, that it was convincing to the Gentiles, as well as the 
Jews; a.nd they did even drink more freely and readily of 
the water of life than did those who have been called ^'thc 
people of God." 

In concluding this chapter, I must say that had Israel 
obeyed the commands and accomplished the work assigned 
them; the human family would in due time have had free 
and peaceful access to the tree of life ; and the man of God 
would not have been cruelly and brutally murdered. 

If you will turn now to Isaiah, chapter 63, you will see 
something of the terror and fierceness of the anger of the 
Lord, because of the transgression of Israel and consequent 
murder of the Eedeemer, presented in the form of a ques- 
tion and answer, as follows: "Wherefore art thou red in 
thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in 
the wine fat?" [Think of the terrific answer.] "I have 
trodden the winepress alone, and of the people thete was 
none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and 
trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprin- 
kled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. 
For the day of venegance is in my heart, and the year of 
my redeemed is come." See Revelation, chapter 19 : "And 
I fell at his feet to Avorship him. And he said unto me, 
See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
brethren that have the testimony of Jesus : worsliip God; 
for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 183 

I saw heaven open, and behold a M^hite horse; and he that 
sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteous- 
ness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame 
of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a 
name written, that no man knew, hut he himself. And he 
was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is 
called The Word of God/' Eevelation, chapter 14 : "And 
the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came 
out of the winepress even unto the horse bridles, by the 
space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." 

This was the great of God Almighty, the day of His 
visitation, when the second stupendous "purpose" against 
tlie whole earth was executed, and the blood of the nations 
flowed to prove that it was God who spoke the dreadful 
sentence, and He who executed it is called "The Word 
of God." 



184 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTEK X. 

Purpose against the Whole Earth. — Decree of the Second 
Destruction. 

Please bear in mind that this is one of the three great 
divisions of man's existence on the earth, which we call the 
Intellectnal, as before mentioned, and is presided over by 
that division of the Grodhead known as the Son or Word; 
and it was evidently contemplated that the Word should 
reach its acme, in the knowledge and system of man's un- 
derstanding, iSy being clothed with flesh and blood and pre- 
sented to the human family as one of that genus. This 
being done, man was left wholly without excuse for diso- 
bedience,, since by this means God did bring Himself and 
His manner of com!munication wholly within the scope of 
man's understanding. And thus he received his last les- 
sons and general instructions in the operations of the God 
of heaven, and also the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God, Which 
was to be his guide and controlling power through the 
eternity of the new era or new world which was soon to be 
ushered in. ^ow it is clear to the mind of any unprejudiced 
reader of the Scriptures that as God thus humiliated Him- 
self once for the sake of man, and that all who would not 
and clid not avail themselves of this opportunity of shelter 
beneath the wings of omnipotence, but foolishly trusted in 
the pompous display of the visible power of feeble man, 
which was limited to a mathematical demonstration, must 
suffer the consequences of being east among the refuse, and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 185 

subjected sooner or later to the various elements that would 
utterly cousume them as material wholly worthless to God. 

We also understand by the very nature of man that 
the Word of God once clothed Avith flesh and blood would 
necessarily have to contend with physical opposition; and 
hence the Man of God with all of His f ollowers^, who were 
but a handful in the beginning, must for a long time, per- 
haps ages and cycles, suffer incomprehensible persecution 
and physical torture, to say nothing of the danger of an 
overthrow of the cause they had espoused, had not the great 
odds against them been cut short by one fell stroke of the 
besom of destruction in the hand of the true and con- 
trolling God. As it was, the persecution, affliction, and va- 
rious deaths to which they were subjected were more than 
we at this age can fully comprehend — ^being burned and 
tortured in e^ery conceivable manner: while they patiently 
awaited the coming of the day in which the blighting hand 
of God was to fall ruthlessly upon the earth the second 
time, withering and wasting all organized powers against 
Ilis Word, which He had sworn should prevail and be the 
authority supreme. 

We also see that this stupendous and bloody destruction 
was the most insurmountable and incontrovertable testi- 
mony to all who survived, that prophecy was from God, and 
that Jesus was the Word and Son of God, Who laid the 
foundation in the hearts of men for the great superstructure 
which was to be erected by the Spirit. Here the earthly 
mission of the Messiah ended; miracles ceased, and the 
Spirit began its operation on equal footing with the frag- 
mentary powers of the gods of the earth. 

Let your mind revert to the days of Noah in the old 
world, where it was necessary to destroy the contarainat- 



186 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ing influences which surrounded the agents of God, and 
transplant them in a new world heyond the reach of cor- 
rupted beings who had been wholly given up to the lusts 
of the flesh. At that age of the world there were so few 
' who had kept themselves pure, and so feeble the intellect, 
that a universal destruction, leaving them with no degrad- 
ing influences save their own carnal nature, was necessary. 
The second destruction Avas national, as were all other o])- 
erations of God during this period of the Word; and while 
it was more terrific and painfully distressing to the human 
family than the Deluge — destroying the nations, disorgan- 
izing governments, breaking doAvn all the powers of the 
earth, and laying them prostrate in the dust beneath the 
feet of the Son of God, which is equivalent to making all 
nations submit to destruction by the verbal commands of 
God — yet individuals from among the nations did escape 
and survive the "indignation," who subsequently organized 
to some extent, and set up a temporary heathenism, whose 
gods will sooner or later be "famished," because they made 
not the heavens and the earth, and their votaries become 
extinct. 

I also call your attention to another fact in connection 
with these great destructions by the hand of God, as fol- 
lows: their manner was foretold, but there were no subse- 
quent historic accounts of the human suffering. It seems 
that no human eye was allowed to gaze upon the scene and 
live to tell the tale ; the wail and shrieks of the damned and 
terror-stricken which rent the air around them died away 
in the distance and were hushed and silent ere they reached 
the survivor's ear: and when after generations were allowed 
to traverse the land overspread with desolation, traces only 
were visible to mark some of the places where man once 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 187 

reveled in luxury and carnal lust. God shut Noah in the 
ark and kept the earth shrouded in water till man and beast 
were silent and buried beyond the reach of mortal eye. Lot 
looked not back upon expiring Sodom, and the believers of 
Judah fled to the mountains while darkness spread its man- 
tle of mourning over the remains of the horrible massacre. 

It has occurred to my mind for a while back in the 
course of this work that it was but just and justice to both 
the author and the reader that I should apologize for a 
kind of monotonous repetition of certain parts and script- 
ural quotations that may seem to you unnecessary, and be 
to some extent irksome; but although it is disagreeable to 
me, and my mind has been much troubled thereby, neverthe- 
less the entire Scriptures are so intimately connected, and 
all of the prophets having the same great subject and de- 
cree of God so vividly impressed upon their minds that it is 
impossible for me to convey to you the ideas which God 
has given me, without a greater or less amount of repeti- 
tion, which is disagreeable; especially relative to this sec- 
ond destruction of the world, which constituted nearly the 
entire theme of the prophets and the gospel of Christ. 
Therefore I hope 3'OU will obtain the ideas and excuse the 
words in which they are clothed. 

This second destruction of the world, which I am now 
about to direct your attention to more pointedly, is the one 
which engrossed the minds of the prophets from Isaiah on 
down; and is the only one spoken of in the sacred writings 
of so great a magnitude. Acts, chapter 3: "For Moses 
truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your 
God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me; him 
shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 
And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not 



188 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the peo- 
ple. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that 
follow after, as man}^ as have spoken, ha.ye likewise foretold 
of these da3'S." Indeed, it was revealed to Christ and the 
apostles, by the prophecies, that there never had been such 
tribulations, since the beginning of the world, and there 
should be never again. Matthew, chapter 24: "For there 
shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the begin- 
ning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Hence 
we may readily conclude that while God will chastise the 
world from time to time during the process of purificatioji 
with his three great agents — the sword, famine, and pesti- 
lence. He ^vill never again find it necessary to inflict so great 
punishment as at this all-important crisis; which is most 
reasonable ^vhen we consider that by it an unmistakable 
knowledge of the omnipotence of God was forced upon man, 
who thenceforward knew beyond the possibility of a doubt 
that the God of heaven would defend His rights and lay the 
hand of affliction upon the disobedient. 

Xow while we go back and examine the Scriptures rel- 
ative to this "great day of God Almighty," the day of "His 
visitation," I ask that you call to mind the definition of 
the word "fire" as given on page 32 of this work; and also 
consider the probability that had the prophets lived at this 
age. and had the advantages of many of the present, gener- 
ation, they would have used different language in describ- 
ing coming events, thereby rendering all prophecies more 
lucid to us; while, on the other hand, the language used 
was perhaps the most expressive to all those who were di- 
rectly concerned in them. Indeed, while reading the Script- 
ures with the advantage of our present knowledge, we 
should in our imagination^ as far as practicable^ place our- 



Two Tliousand Years in Blerniiy. 189 

selves back in the condition and amid the circumstances 
which surrounded those who lived in the days when they 
were ^vritten and fulfilled. 

Since the previously mentioned important changes in 
the operations of God were first revealed to Isaiali and cul- 
minated in this terrific destruction, it also was first men- 
tioned by him in the fore part of his book of prophecy, 
and is called a "consumption." Eead carefully and you will 
find that any agent capable of consuming man and his sub- 
stances constitutes a part of the terrible fire of God^s "in- 
dignation" with which He intended and did- lay waste the 
whole face of the earth. Please think calmly, with an un- 
prejudiced mind and a distinct recollection that the judg- 
ment was to begin at the house of God, and that after Judah 
and Israel were punished, then came the punishment and 
destruction of all the nations. I will only quote portions 
from the beginning of the book of Isaiah on, to prove to 
you that this decree had gone forth, but the Jews were first 
plaxjed under heathen rule and destroyed nationally, and 
then the whole heathen world was to suffer the penalty, but 
of course, it was years before the work was completed; nev- 
ertheless, Isaiah understood from time to time that such 
a terrible overthrow of all nations should be. 

"The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw. 
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, 
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, 
heavens, and give ear, earth; for the Lord hath spoken, 
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have 
rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the 
ass his master^s crib; but Israel doth not know, my people 
doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with 
iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters: 



190 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy 
One of Israiel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
. . . Your country is desolate, your cities are burned mth 
fire : your laaid, strangers devour it in your presence, and it 
is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter 
of Zion'^ [The fortress at Jerusalem; the forts of cities 
were spoken of as daughters.] "is left as a cottage in a vine- 
yard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small rem- 
nant, we should have been a^ Sodom, and Ave should have 
been like unto Gomorrah. . . . And the destruction of 
the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and 
they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they 
shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye 
shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. 
For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a gar- 
den that hath no water. Aand the strong shall be as tow, 
and the maker of it as a spark, a^nd they shall botli burn 
together, and none shall quench them. . . . Their land 
also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own 
hands, that which their own fingers have made: and the 
mean man boweth down, and the great m!aai humbleth him- 
self : therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and 
hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord and for the glory 
of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, 
and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the 
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of. 
the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and 
lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be 
brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are 
high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and 
upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that 



Two Thousand Years in Tlternity. 191 

are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and npon every 
fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon 
all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be 
bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made 
low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And 
the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into 
the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for 
fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when^he 
ariseth to shake terribly the earth. . . . And now go to; 
I will tell you what I \Yi\\ do to my vineyard: I will take 
away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break 
down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; and 
I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but 
there shall come up briers and thorns : I will also command 
the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vine- 
yard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the 
men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judg- 
ment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold 
a cry. . . . Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled 
against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand 
against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did 
tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the 
streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his 
hand is stretched out still. And he will lift up an ensign 
to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the 
end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed 
swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them; none 
shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their 
loins be loosed, nor the latch et of their shoes be broken: 
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their 
horses' hoofs shall be counted tike flint, and their wheels 
like a whirlwind: their roaring shall be like a lion, they 



192 Two Tliousand Years in Eternity. 

shall roar like young lions : yea, they shall roar, and lay hold 
of the prey, and shall carry it a,way safe, and none shall de- 
liver it. And in that day they shall roar against them like 
the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, be- 
hold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkness in the 
heavens thereof. ... Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, 
and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send 
him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of 
my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to 
take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the 
streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart 
think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations 
not a few.'^ The Assyrians had already taken possession of 
all the nations of the earth except Israel and Judah, and 
we see by the last quotation that while they wanted to con- 
quer those nations also, that' they did not believe they could. 
All nations hacl understood that Israel was a peculiar peo- 
ple and of the God of heaven; and so great was the fear in- 
spired thereby that the Assyrians never did believe they 
would take Jerusalem niitil the\ had absolutely entered her 
citadel. But it is a fact unquestionable that when God 
wishes a certain work done. He operates upon the minds 
of individuals and nations; causing them to think of and 
conclude to do that work, whatever it may be; and the great 
sin of Nebuchadnezzar after he had conquered Israel and 
Judaih and made subject to him the whole world; instead of 
understanding himself and teaching all the people of the 
earth that this great work was accomplished by the great 
Spirit of the God of heaven operating in the hearts of men, 
he walked the floor of his palace, and accredited the achieve- 
ment to his own gigantic and domineering mind and the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 193 

strength of his own arm, as men of great ability often do at 
the present day; and hence his overthrow. 

Now the foregoing quotations are taken from nea.rly 
every chapter from the first of Isaiah up to this chapter 10, 
all of which are devoted to setting forth the decree against 
Israel and the Jews, and the devastation of their country: 
and now we proceed to quote further from this noble 
prophet to show you God's decree against the heathen na- 
tions, the combined world, for their overthrow, disorganiza- 
tion, and destruction, which decree is reiterated by Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the other prophets, and consti- 
tutes the substance of all their prophecies. 

"Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord 
hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion, and on 
Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the 
king of Assyria, a^nd the glory of his high looks. For he 
saith. By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by 
my wisdom;, for I am prudent: and I have removed the 
bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and 
I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant m.':n: and 
my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and 
as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the 
earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened 

the mouth, or peeped Therefore shall the Lord, 

the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and 
under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning 
of a fire. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his 
Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his 
thorns and liis briers in one day." Here 3^ou see how that 
this destruction is brought about by the enlightenment of 
the people, and revolution caused by Christ's teaching; and 
then it Avas the fire was kindled which was and is to destroy 



194 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the last vestige of paganism from off the face of the earth; 
and then it was also that all who accepted the intelligent 
system of the Messiah and be governed by philosophic rea- 
son began to raise up above stupid heathenism and over- 
throw the power of their idols. "And it shall come to pass 
in that day^ that the remnant of Israel^ and such as are 
escajped of the house of Jacobs shall no more stay upon him 
that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy 
One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the 
remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy 
people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of 
them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow 
with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts shall make 
a consumption, even determined in the midst of all the land. 
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, my people 
that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he 
shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staif against 
thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, 
and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their 
destruction." In all of these chapters there is a continuous, 
unbroken chain of testimony and many specifications against 
various nations of the earth — Moab, Damascus, Egypt, the 
desert and the islands, as well as sweeping cleclarations of de- 
structions. But with a perfect understanding that great 
and mighty Babylon was the head of the world; that after 
Israel and Judah with a few other nations were driven un- 
der her yoke, her dominions extended over every province 
in the known world, and so continued to the time of this 
second destruction of which we speak. Pilate, before whom 
Jesus was tried, held his rule over the Jews by authority 
from the great king of Babylon; for his yoke was not yet 
broken, as we shall see in following quotations relative to 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 195 

the great day of God Almighty, and that those who are 
saved shall be a few out of all the nations of the earth who 
accept the teaching of the intellectual doctrine of the Mes- 
siah: first, of the Israelites who were scattered among every 
nation and people of the earth; and secondly, they of the 
heathen nations who believed by their example. But the 
work is great, even immense, and required ages in its per- 
formance; and yet at the time of this prophecy it had not 
begun by hundreds of years. And as the words of the 
prophet are expressive, we will proceed to give them; and 
mark his expression ""In that day,^' meaning the great day 
of reckoning and retribution dealt out to the nations in the 
just destruction, by the power of the unseen God. 

'^In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall 
stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Grentiles 
seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to 
pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the 
second time, to recover the remnant of his people which 
shall be left from Assyria, and from -Egypt, and from Path- 
ros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and 
from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he 
shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble 
the outcast of Tsra.el, and gather together the dispersed of 

Judah from the four corners of the earth I 

have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my 
might}^ ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my 
highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like 
as of a great people, a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of 
nations gaithered together; the Lord of hosts mustereth the 
host of the battle. They come from a far country, from 
the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his 
indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the 



196 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

day of the Lord is at hand: it shall come as a destruction 
from the Almighty. . . . And I will punish the world 
for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will 
cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low 
the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more 
precious than line gold; even a man than the golden wedge 
of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the 
earth shall move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord 
of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. . . . And 
Bab^don, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chal- 
dees^ excellency shall be as when God . overthrew Sodom and 
Gomorrah. . . . For I aviU rise up against them, saith 
the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and 
remnant, a.nd son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also 
make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water : and 
T will SAveep it Avith the besom of destruction, saith the 
Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts hath SAvorn saying, Surely 
as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have 
purjDosed, so shall it stand: that I will break the Assyrian 
in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: 
then shall his yoke depart from oif them, and his burden 
depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that 
is purposed upon the Avhole earth : and this is the hand that 
is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts 
hath purposed, and who shall disannul it ? and his hand is 
stretched out, and who shall turn it back? In the year that 
King Ahaz died Avas this burden." 

Ponder well this terrible death sentence upon the whole 
earth, and especially the meaning of the last line you have 
just read, and try to comprehend the stupendous fact that 
man Avas alloAved to know the very year the decree was 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 197 

issued from the great and resplendent throne of God to 
desolate the earth the second time. And while the first was 
an overwhelming flood of water, the second was a deluge of 
human blood, poured out in accordance with the declaration 
of God registered in heaven the year KingAhaz died, which 
was about 726 years before the advent of the Messiah. 

But the end of this mighty destruction was not when 
the universal rule and reign of Babylon was broken, for 
out of the fragments sprang the Antichrist, as we shall see 
more definitely when we come to examine the prophecies 
of Daniel, by whom the saints were so sorely tried, and the 
last appalling and bloody struggle was brought about. And 
since the fidl course of God^s operations was made known 
to Isaiab, this also is spoken of by him in that remote man- 
ner and style of language in which he described everything 
else. And you must remember that he could do no better, 
it being such a great while prior to the time of their pre- 
sentation in real life; and we must not fail to observe that 
the nearer the time approached, the more vividly and defi- 
nitely the scene was described by prophets who came after 
him. And after the struggle with him — the Antichrist — 
then the kingdom v\^as established, and the remnant of the 
followers of Christ had equal showing to rise up in defense 
of their principles, with the fragments of other nations; 
and the prophet thus speaks of it: 

"Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina*, because the rod of 
him. that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root 
shall come forth a cocktrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery 
flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, 
and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy 
root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, 
gate; cry, city; thou whole Palestina art dissolved: 



198 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall 
be alone in his appointed time. What shall one then an- 
swer the messengers of the nation? Thia,t the Lord hath 
founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it/' 

Since this chapter is devoted to Isaiah^s prophecy of 
the second destruction and the decree therefor, it is but 
just to give most of the direct declarations relative thereto, 
although what we have already said seems to me to be suffi- 
cient. Nevertheless, the subject being of such magnitude 
and importance as to be the theme of all the prophets, it is 
but just to proceed further. And in the immediate suc- 
ceeding chapters we find written the destiny of some of 
the nations in executing the purposes of God; but in chap- 
ter 24 there is much important testimony; I shall only give 
a part, although the whole chapter is important: 

"Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty, and mak- 
eth it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth 

abroad the inhabitants thereof The land shall 

be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath 
spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, 
the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty peo- 
ple of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled un- 
der the inhabitants thereof; because they have trans- 
gressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the ever- 
lasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the 
earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore 
the inhabitants of the earth aire burned, and few men ieft. 

The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is 

clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth 
shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed 
like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy 
upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 199 

come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall pnnish the 
host of the high ones that are on high, a<nd the kings of the 
earth npon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, 
as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shnt up 
in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, 
when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in 
Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously/" Li the 
above quotation we also see an intimation that transgression 
and the sin- of the world did ait that time reach its zenith, 
and that from the time of this terrible overthrow it did 
and will continue to recede, till the earth be thoroughly 
cleansed and filled with the glory of God. 

In chapters 26 and 27 we have Isaiah's manner of ex- 
pressing the joy and, happiness of the few who accepted the 
teaching of Christ and escaped, to live after this terrific 
scourge, free from the tyranny, oppression, and torture of 
idolatry, who were the seed of this third Avorld, and hov/ 
they were hid away and protected during the last bloody 
struggle, which we will see further on lasted one month and 
fifteen days; and remember that in speaking of Jacob is not 
meant a nation circumcised in the foreskin of the flesh, but 
those only, Avherever they may be, who were circumcised in 
heart, believing in the Christ and worshiping the God of 
heaven, confidently following the Spirit of Eternal Truth. 
I will only give a portion, as there is too much bearing on 
these points to write out in full: 

"In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Ju- 
dah; We have a strong city; salvaition will God appoint for 
walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous 
nation which keepeth the truth mvay enter in. . . . Lord, 
thou wilt obtain peace for us: for thou also hast wroughl 



200 Two Thousand Years in Sternity. 

all our works in us. Lord our God, other lords besides 
thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we 
make mention* of thy name. They are dead, they shall not 
live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast 
thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their mem- 
ory to perish Come, my people, enter thou into 

thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself 
as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over- 
past. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to pun- 
ish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the 
earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover 
her slain. . . . He shall cause them that come of Jacob 
to take root: Israel shall blossom as a bud, and fill the 

face of the world with fruit By this therefore 

shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the 
fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones 
of the altar as chalkstones, that are beaten in sunder, the 
groves and images shall not stand up.^^ 

As it was the duty of this prophet as well as others to 
continue to waxn the people, so he does; and in chapter 28 
he says : "For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Peraziro., 
he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may 
do his work, his strange work; amd bring to pass his act, his 
strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, let your 
bands be made strong : for I have heard from, the Lord God of 
hosts, a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth." 

N"ow I would have you remember wtII these words of 
Isaiah, as well as the various other expressions used in speak- 
ing of this great day of the wrath of God: for unquestiona- 
bly this is the same marvelous work spoken of by the apos- 
tles in the New Testament, where they used the word "fire'^ 
to convey the idea of consumption or laying waste the na- 



Tivo Tliousand Years in Eternity. 201 

tions of the earth; which may easily be determined by care- 
fully traciug it through the diiferent prophecies down to 
Christ, and reading what He said of the approaching deso- 
lation. The Revelation of John would certainly put an 
end to all doubt, since it does correspond most beautifully 
Avith all that had been said upon the subject by the prophets 
in ages past. 

From the time that this decree of heaven was made 
public on earth by the prophet Isaiah, he continued from 
time to time in all of his writings to refer to this important 
event and its consequences. Indeed, it was inseparably con- 
nected with all of his duties as a prophet to keep it vividly 
before the minds of the people, and direct their attention 
pointedly on all occasions to the coming of that great and 
notable day of the Lord; as it was also the duty of Noah 
to continually admonish the people one hundred and twen- 
ty years, by word as well as the work of building the ark, 
which of its self was a monument of warning of approach- 
ing danger — truly a volume of admonition, constantly spread 
out before them, written in such characters as were wholly 
legible amd unmistakably intelligible, even to their very 
low grade of intellect. 

Not only was the duty imposed on Isaiah, but upon ex- 
amination of the Scriptures we find it to be a prominent 
feature in the writings of all, even down to within a short 
time of the end: for John, who was the last to look upon 
the great panorama, was told that the things he saw must 
shortly come to pass; and in the end of the vision, the angel 
of the Lord told him not to seal up the sayings of the proph- 
ecy, "For," said he, "the time is at haaid." The great work 
of Christ and the apostles was to prepare men for this great 
event, and "the day of salvation" was from the advent of 



202 Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the Messiah to the time of this consumption, which was the 
"judgment day/^ 

'Now, before proceeding further with this subject, T 
wish to call your attention to some minor facts, which in 
themselves are of little importance, while in connection with 
leading topics they perform a very important part in devel- 
oping their signification; and in so doing I shall merely 
state them, without taking time to refer for proof, since 
you will easily arrive at their definition by noticing the man- 
ner of their use. 

It is important to know that judgment, in the Script- 
ures, meaus punishment and a destruction of evil: and "the 
day of judgment'^ was the greatest and most terrific destruc- 
tion ever known to the earth since man lived upon its face, 
and was the day or time when this second decree of which 
we have been speaking was executed. The sword, famine, 
and pestilence are the principal agents of God's judgments; 
but at one time wild beasts played a conspicuous part in 
destroying the human family, and were considered one of 
God's judgments, and the four were called "m?/ four sore 
judgmenls'\: but the three former remain, and a*re to-day 
the agents by which God chastises the world from time to 
time, in the process of refining. He pleads with man by the 
sword, as it is stated; but in some instances he divided a 
portion to each. 

You will find by closely, observing the language used in 
all places, both in the Old and New Scriptures, where wri- 
ters speak of the great and terrible destruction — consum- 
ing, burning, or dissolving the earth — no matter how strong 
the language used, they show conclusively, either by word 
or tenor, that they fully and confidently expect the earth 



2\vo Thousand Years in Eternity. 203 

subsequently inhabited by human beings^ flesh and blood, 
and we need not marvel at it being called "new.'' 

Another important matter is, that writers, in speaking 
of this national destruction of the world, call it by different 
names, such as "the day of His visitation," "the great and 
terrible day of the Lord," "the indignation," "the end of 
the world," "the judgment day," and others than those J 
have mentioned; and indeed, so great was the magnitude 
of this coming event that almost every writer down to John 
made it the th'eme of his pen. And why not? We must 
not forget that since the days of Ahaz there was stainding 
upon the records of heaven, in blazing and indelible charac- 
ters, an immutable decree for the breaking down and de- 
struction of the nations of the earth, and it was held up 
before the people for over eight hundred years before its 
execution, and hence it justly engrossed the minds of all 
who believed in the God of heaven. Nor is it surprising 
that strong language was used in speaking of it, since to 
them it was a thing of prophec}^ and aparently total de- 
struction; nevertheless, many even of the present day are 
misled by the strong language used in speaking of it; but 
we must consider that very many in the days of the apos- 
tles did not understand the mlanner of its execution. If 
Peter had fully understood, he never would have used the 
language he did, for he certainly conveyed the idea to all 
that the whole earth and the heavens were to be burned up 
with material fire, which from all other writings is unques- 
tionably incorrect, and has done nmch harm in. the world 
by misleading many. But we must excuse Peter, for he 
was but a man of ordinary understanding and very impul- 
sive. We give his words, taken from his second Epistle, 
chapter 3: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief 



204 2^wo TJiousand 'Years in Eternity. 

in the night; in the which the heavens shall p>ass away witli 
a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned 
up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, 
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conver- 
sation and godliness. Looking for and hasting unto the com- 
ing of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire 
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat?" Such as the above is the reason why many at the 
present day yet look for and expect to witness some scene 
of destruction yet more appalling. The previous descrip- 
tion also precludes the idea of the possibility of any living 
soul being saved on the face of the whole earth, nothwith- 
standing the prophets all and in every instance declared 
that the vision showed that some would be saved; and while 
Peter obtained his ideas from prophecy, he immediately 
says in his next words: "Nevertheless we, a,ccording to his 
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness," without giving the least intima- 
tion or slightest explanation as to how this new earth was 
to be peopled; when the prophets showed, as one of the 
most prominent features in all the work, how tiome were to 
be saved, as the gleaning grapes after the vintage was done ; 
a few of God^s people who had accepted Christ were to be 
saved* from the desolation by war, famine, and pestilence as 
seed for this new world in which we now live, and be the 
Christian nation. The colossal dimensions of the great bat- 
tle of Gog from the land of Magog, when the nations of the 
earth were assembled to spill their blood as the emblem of 
God^s omnipotence and terrific anger, was enough — yes, 
enough for me; and I think had you lived in that day and 
passed through the fiery ordeal, certainly you would have 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 205 

said the consumption was complete, and would not have 
looked for a greater, but would have been fully satisfied 
that it completely filled the measure of the terrific descrip- 
tion by God^s prophets; and I thank God to-day that it is 
long since past, and that it was not my lot to live in that 
terrible day. Let us therefore *all be thankful that we es- 
caped the dreadful scourge, and strive to keep our daily ac- 
count properly balanced at the great mart of justice and 
mercy, so that we may constantly have great confidence to- 
ward God, and not be overwhelmed by the condemnation 
registered in our hearts for disobedience to the commands 
of His SpiriL 



206 Two TJiousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Prophecies of Jeremiah Relative to the Second Destruction. 

Now let us drift leisurely along down the current of 
time to the days when Jeremiah, the child prophet, arose, 
about one hundred years subsequent to the time when this 
dreadful decree issued from the throne of God, and begin 
again to search the Scriptures that you may understand the 
declarations of the Word of God on the subject at this later 
date. 

You will find prophecy more definite and pointed, as 
the time approaches, until the beloved Daniel spoke so 
plainly that those who lived in that daiy might have told 
within a year or two of the time when desolation spread its 
mantle over the length and breadth of the earth. Never- 
theless, the angels in heaven knew not the exact time, but 
^''as a thief in the night'^ it was to come upon the riotous 
nations, sfnd sink them in the great vortex of eternal death, 
while their wailing voices were unheard amid the thunders 
and lightnings, ^* which shook also heaven." This was the 
God of the universe enraged, and there was no power to res- 
cue the miserable wretches who had trusted in the work of 
their own hands. 

Before proceeding to quote from the prophecies of this 
great man, who wrote out the decrees of God and sent them 
to various nations, and especially did he have them read to 
the Babylonians, it is proper, in order to avoid prolixity and 
as far as possible unnecessary repetition, for me to state 
here that the book of Jeremiah is but a reiteration of Isaiah's 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 207 

prophecy, only his language is different, and he did illus- 
trate the manner of destruction to the people in various 
ways; and since the first of the book, even to the twenty- 
fourth chapter, is devoted to the downfall of Jerusalem and 
the enslaving of the Jews, it will not be necessary for me 
to cumber this work with much of his language on that part 
of the subject, although it is pointed and very forcible, for 
it is an admitted fact by all who ever read the Scriptures 
that the overthrow of Israel and the Jews was foretold 
many years, and that the prophecy did come to pass, abso- 
lutely, full and complete as it had been declared; but the 
prophecies of the two men are the same. You can, how- 
ever, see more clearly that idoltary was "the sin of the 
world," and that as Judah and Israel had gone back to 
heathenism and were worse than Sodom and Gomorrah — 
. forsaking their God, while the fidelity of every heathen na- 
tion had remained unshaken, God determined, as the first 
step in the great work, to force them under the yoke of a 
heathen king, class them among the heathen nations, and 
treat them as such. This seems a most rational course for 
God to pursue, and clear to my mind; for though He did 
at the end of seventy years bring them back to make good 
his words to King David, and allowed them to live to them- 
selves. He seemed never a.srain to take delight in them as a 
nation, nor accept their sacrifices in worship. And after 
the Messiah was brought forth according to His word, they 
also, with all other nations, were ready for and given to the 
slaughter. Individually, however, there were those amonjz; 
them with whom He was pleased; at least, they were elected 
for the painful and trying work which was to follow. 

Now, if you have examined this book carefully up to 
chapter 25, to satisfy yourself that my statement is correct. 



208 Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

I ask you to read it from the beginning to the end, noting 
the manner in which Jeremiah published this decree more 
than a hundred years after it was placed on the records of 
heaven. I will give you the important parts, as our subject 
is the decree against the whole world, and you will see how 
much clearer the vision was understood by Jeremiah, and 
his description of it so much more easily understood, than 
that of Isaiah. Another point I would have you observe in 
reading these prophecies is, that not only to the Jews, but 
to all other nations it was most surprising that Jerusalem 
should ever fall; they did not believe the prophecy, for the 
people of The whole earth had heard of the fuesi name and 
power of Israel's God; and hence you will see great stress 
and more importance attached to the downfall of Jerusalem 
and the Israelitish nation than the whole world beside, at the 
time these prophecies were made public: and very justly it 
should be so, as they had been set up as an example of the 
power of the true and living Grod, and the heathen nations 
had become afraid of them to a great extent; notwithstand- 
ing they had accepted idolatry, an idea> prevailed that some 
superior power attended them, and this was the most im- 
portant feature in the vision, although enough was seen and 
said to show conclusively that in consequence of the neces- 
sary overthrow and destruction of this nation, all other na- 
tions of the earth had to suffer and share the sa-me fate of 
total destruction; and Ave now turn to the words of the 
prophet written in chapter 25. 

The v/ord of the Lord came to Jeremiah about 607 
years before Christ, and was the first year of the reign of 
NebuchadrezzaT, king of Babylon, and it is of ibis vision we 
now speak, and the prophet says: "The which Jeremiah 
the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 209 

the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth 
year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even nnto 
iiiis clay, that is the three and twentie-th year the word of 
the Lord hath come nnto me, and I have spoken unto you, 
rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened." The 
prophet now speaks of the first fall of Jerusalem, and it is 
to be remembered that this was the time when King Sol- 
omon's temple was destroyed; and that the second destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, wherein the temple built by Zerubbabel 
was destroyed, Avas the one spoken of, and included in the 
decree for the massive destruction of all nations of the en- 
tire world; so we proceed with the prohpecy relative to the 
first fall of Jerusalem. "Behold, I will send and take all 
the families of the north, saith the Lord, and N'ebuchadrez- 
zar the king of Babylon, my sei:va,nt, and will bring them 
against this la>nd, and against the inhabitants thereof, and 
against all these nations round about, and will utterly de- 
stroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hiss- 
ing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from 
them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the 
voice of the bridgegroom, and the voice of the bride, the 
sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And 
this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; 
and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy 
years." So far we see that the prophet speaks of the Lord's 
intentions and determination to bring all nations under the 
yoke of Babylon, and the universal rule and reign of pagan- 
ism; and we will see further on that the "consumption," the 
great "judgment day," is to come upon the whole earth 
somewhere in the future after Jerusalem and the Temple 
were rebuilt, and the Jews taken back by Zerubbabel: in 
which destruction the Jews were also included the second 



210 Ttuo Thousand Years in Eternity, 

time, aud the so-called Je\YS of the present day are only a 
fragment of that nation, who escaped, as did some of the 
heathen nation?, who in a A^ery limited and imperfect man- 
ner pretend to keep up the old system of worship: hnt must 
in the course of eternity be swept from off the face of the 
earth before the advance of the Christian nation. But we 
now resume the prophecy: 

"And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are ac- 
complished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that 
nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of 
the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations 
And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have 
pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, 
which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves 
of them also : and T will recompense them according to their 
deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. For 
thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me, Take the wine- 
cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to 
whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and 
be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will 
send among them.'' Remember now the judgment men- 
tioned in the N"ew Testament, which was to begin at the 
house of God, and we proceed : 

"Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all 
the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me: 
To-wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings 
thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desola- 
tion, an astonishment, an hissing and a curse; as it is this 
day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his 
princes, and all his people; and all the mingled people, and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternihj. 211 

all the kings of the la,nd of Uz, and all the kings of the 
land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ek- 
ron, and the remnant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the 
children of Ammon, and all, the kings of Tyrus, and all 
the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are 
beyond the sea, Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that 
are in the utmost corners, and all the kings of Arabia, and 
all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, 
and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elara, and 
all the kings of the Medes^ and all the kings of the north, 
far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of 
the world, which are npon the face of the earth: and the 
king of Sheshach shall drink after them. Therefore thou 
shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God 
of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, 
and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send 
among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup 
at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them. Thus 
saith the Lord of hosts. Ye shall certainly drink. For, lo, 
I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, 
and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be 
unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhab- 
itants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.^^ 

Now you remember how Isaiah described this scene of 
bloodshed and terrific destruction, as given in the previous 
chapter of this work; and that I have said that each suc- 
ceeding prophet gave a more comprehensive description of 
it, as the ages of time rolled on; and I ask you. Is not this 
the same thing which Jeremiah is describing; and does 
he not make it plain enough for anyone to understand? 
But we will go on to quote a description of the last scene 



212 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

in this great tragedy spoken of more at length by Ezekiel, 
as we will show yon later on; and was the great and ter- 
rible day of the Lord so prominently mentioned through 
the New Testament; and Jeremiah speaks more definitely 
of this also than did Isaiah; as follows: 

"Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, 
and say nnto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and 
utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily 
roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they 
that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the 
earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; 
for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will 
plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to 
the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
Behold evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and 
a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts 
of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that 
day from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of 
the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, 
nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.'' In this 
chapter he also speaks of the terrific judgment against the 
shepherds who lead Isra,el astray. 

I now ask. What language would you use to proclaim 
a judgment more forcible, more general, more thorough 
and specific against the combined world, than that which 
3^ou have just read? Would material fire cause more suf- 
fering and horrible distress than the devouring sword, 
the slow and torturing famine, and the burning pestilence ? 
This is no figure, no myth nor allegory; but a stem, stub- 
born sentence against the specified nations of the earth 
from the God of the universe. And now I ask you again. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 213 

Is your fear of Him taught by the precepts of men? If 
not, and you are guided by the Spirit of Truth, as in the 
presence of God, apaxt from the opinions of human beings, 
I will ask you further. Do these nations yet have to pass 
through this appalling fiery ordeal? Is this dreadful sen- 
tence yet hanging in full force over the world ? Was not this 
the close of that great day or terrific occasion, in which the 
yoke of Babylon, the heathen yoke of the world, was to be 
broken, and let every one be individually responsible to 
the God of heaven according to the dictates of his own 
conscience? And has it not been thoroughly broken? Ahf 
yes; though some of the galling timbers still dangle about 
our neck in the character of foolish and unmeaning form 
and ceremony, at which our intelligence and reason revolt, 
because there is no. more virtue in them; but they will, 
in course of time, drop off, leaving us liberated sons of God, 
only subject to His law written in our hearts and placed 
in our inward parts. 

One more question relative to this subject, and in de- 
termining the answer I desire you to read carefully what 
the Lord God said through these three great prophets, 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, concerning the priests, shep- 
herds, and leaders of His people, and see in -the new cove- 
nant by the same prophets (which we will give further on) 
how He provided against such disastrous results as were 
brought about by the priesthood in that day. With the 
understanding tha.t you read these prophecies upon this part 
of the subject, and bear it in mind when we come to speak 
of the new covenant, I ask. Since the days of the apostles 
and miracles, which performed their part of the work so 
nobly in laying the foundation of the kingdom, Christ be- 



214 Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ing the chief Corner-stone, and the gospel was preached 
to every creature on earth, where do the minister, the 
priest, and bishop (so called) get their authority to dic- 
tate terms of peace between you and that God who made 
you to perform a different work from all other creatures, 
and holds you individually responsible for it; with whom 
you are, as it were, in constant and direct telegraphic com- 
munication (so to speak) through the Spirit of Eternal 
Truth? Shall the oak tell the myrtle tree how it shall 
grow, because he is majestic and sturdy? Shall the pome- 
granate say to the pumpkin, or gourd, "Your odor is offen- 
sive," because it is used as an ornament? Shall the acacia 
tree say to the oleander, "Your leaf and flower are poison,^' 
because he is engaged in producing food for the natives? 
And when men live within the pale of civil law, shall one 
say to another, "Your deeds are evil and unrighteous be- 
cause you do not as I do and think right"? Has a just and 
perfect God, in this more perfect age of enlightenment, 
entrusted that authority to so dangerous and feeble a sys- 
tem of transmission from generation to generation through 
certain individuals of the human family, since He has 
ceased His direct operations on earth, after it had proved 
a signal failure in ages past? Nay, verily, but He has in- 
troduced a system under the new covenant, so perfect, and 
yet so simple in its operations, that each can thoroughly 
understand for himself, but not another, no matter what 
grade of intellect he has. Truly it was said, "A fool need 
not err therein'^ ; and in this n ew covenant was prominently 
and emphatically stated and stipulated that one man shall 
not teach another. 

But I will return to the subject again, and call your 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 215 

attention to the fact that God in His operations caused one 
part of the human family to perform His work against an- 
other; which shows to some extent the speed and power of 
His Spirit to accomplish a great work in a short time; and 
thus it was He caused Bah3^1on, "the hammer of the whole 
earth/' to rise against Judah and other nations, subjugat- 
ing and bringing them and the entire world under the rule 
of Nebuchadnezzar ; and b}^ the same means he subsequently 
assembled united forces against him and the Chaldeans, to 
bring upon them and their land also the desolation prom- 
ised and written in a book which Seraiah read to the Baby- 
lonians. "And I will bring upon that land all my words 
which I have promised against it; even all that is written 
in this book which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all 
the nations/' You also see here beyond a doubt, as it is 
written in many places, that this decree was for a national 
destruction. And in the last grea.t struggle, when there 
was no human force sufficient to oppose, individuals were 
caused to slaughter each other j which you can understand, 
from your present knowledge of human nature, would be 
the m.ost uncompromising, complete, and perfect system 
of destruction that could have been instituted; and you can 
also understand that the great power which brought about 
so bloody a scene was the Spirit that reigned in the heart 
of each. 

Turn and read the destruction of Babylon and the Chal- 
deans as written in chapters 50 and 51, which was the be- 
ginning of the breaking down of the heathen world, which 
had been united under one great heathen king. I mean 
that the entire world of man was but a mass of paganism 
under one king, except a few individuals scattered among 



216 Tvjo Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

the nations, and this was before the mind and intellect had 
developed sufficiently to comprehend an unseen Grod. I 
will give yon portions of the prophecy. You .can read it 
in toto. 

''The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and 
against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 
Declare ye among the nations, and publish and set up a 
standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, 
Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols 
are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. For out 
of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which 
shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: 
they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. 

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round 

about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no ar- 
rows: for she hath sinned against the Lord. Shout against 
her round about : she hath given her hand : her foundations 
are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the ven- 
geance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath 

done, do unto her A sound of battle is in the 

land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of 
the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon 
become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare 
for thee, and thou airt also taken, Babylon, and thou wast 
not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou 
hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened his 
armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indig- 
nation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the 
land of the Chaldeans A sword is upon the Chal- 
deans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, 
and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is 
upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her 



Two Tliousand Years in Eternity. 217 

mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon 
their horses and npon their chariots, and npon all the min- 
gled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall 
become as women: a sword is npon her treasures; and they 

shall be robbed As God overthrew Sodom and 

Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord; 
so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man 
dwell therein. . . . Therefore hear ye the counsel of 
the Lord, that he hath t^ken against Babylon; and his pur- 
poses, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chal- 
deans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: 
surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. 
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, 
and the cry is heard among the nations." 

"Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, 
that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken 
of her' wine; therefore the nations are mad. ... thou 
that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, 
thine end is come, and the measure of thy coveteousness. 
The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I 
will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall 
lift up a shout against thee Every man is brut- 
ish by his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the 
graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there 
is no breath in them. They are vanity, the work of errors: 
in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The por- 
tion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all 
things : and Israel is the rod of his inheritance : the Lord of 
hosts is his name." You may see that dissension, discord, 
and conflict were brought about by the dispersed of Israel 
among the- nations of the earth who were the elect, by 
whom the great work was to be done; and hence he goes 



218 Two TJiousand Years in Eternity. 

on to say, speaking of Israel, or the Jews: "Thou art my 
battle=axe, and weapons of war: for with thee will I break 
in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy king- 
doms And I will render nnto Babylon and to 

all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have 
done in Zion in joiir sight, saith the Lord." This was after 
the Chaldeans had destroyed Jerusalem and taken the Jews 
prisoners. "Behold I am against thee, destroying moun- 
tain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I 
will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down 
from the rocks, and mil make thee a burnt mountain." In 
the prophecies cities are spoken of as mountains, and Bab- 
ylon was the emblem, of the world under pagan rule, the 
whole of the inhabited portions of the earth; and Jerusa- 
lem; is emblematic of the new world under the rule of the 
Spirit of God; and the "daughter'' of a city is her citadel 
or fort. "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of 
Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, 
it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of 
her harvest shall come. Xebuchadrezzar the king of Bab- 
3don hatli devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made 
me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, 
he hath fiilecl his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me 

out Therefore behold, the da,ys come, that I 

will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and 
her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall 
fall in the midst of her. Then the heaven and the earth, 
and all that is thereiu, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoil- 
ers shall come upon her from the north, saith the Lord. As 
Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Bab- 
ylon shall fall the slain of all the earth And I 

will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her cap- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternitti. 219 

tains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: amd they shall 
sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wal-e, saith the King whose 
name is the Lord of hosts." 

Now I wish to call your attention to one fact which 
you will please remember should you ever refer to the afore- 
mentioned chapters to read them over carefully, and it is 
this : that the events therein spoken of by the prophet were 
to transpire years after the Messiah came upon the earth 
and was cut olf; and that He also spoke of this, as v/ell as 
other terrific scenes that were to arise before the final con- 
sumption and the indignation cease. Christ told His apos- 
tles and followers that there should be wars, and rumors of 
wars, but "the end is not yet"; and notwithstanding, from 
the going forth of the decree to this time many a field had 
been washed and made red with the blood of the poor, sin- 
ful, benighted humxan beings, in bringing the nations of 
the earth under the yoke of mighty Babylon, with Nebu- 
chadnezzar as its "head of gold"; and subsequently deso- 
lating the land of the Chaldeans; it was but a rivulet, when 
contrasted with the blood which flowed when the winepress 
of the wTath of God was trodden, to prove to man that it 
was the Word and Son of God who commanded, as the 
waters of >; oah proved to him that it was the Father. Isaiah 
(ch. 54), in speaking as God of this bloody destruction, and 
as evidence that there is never again to come upon the earth 
another, says: "For this is as the waters of Noah unto 
me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should 
no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would 
not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." That is, Israel 
proper, or the Christian nation, which never will be broken 
down by war, pestilence, or any other element of disaster; 
no, never. Read this whole chapter, it is important. I will 



220 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

give yoTi the last verse: "Xo weapon that is formed against 
thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against 
thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage 
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of 
me^^saith the Lord." And so will this Christian nation con- 
tinue to grow until it fills the whole earth, to the exclusion 
of all others. 

I wish to speak of one thing further just here, and 
that is, the dates and periods at which these important 
events were to transpire, and the length of time which 
elapsed between them, or from the consummation of these 
terrific tragedies to the present. I hold that the chrono- 
logical tables are unreliable, and that no man has ever been 
able to make a calculation of time extending from the 
birth of Jesus on down through the destruction and dark 
peroid of the world to the present, with sufficient proof of 
it& accuracy to justify its having any. bearing on the opin- 
ions of men as to the truth or error of any of the sacred 
writings. Indeed, I think the dates by which we are gov- 
erned in the ordinary transactions of life should never be 
taken into consideration in forming am opinion on any part 
of the Scriptures. Ezekiel was told how to compute the 
time to important coming events in the history of Israel 
and Judah, and Daniel was evidently governed by that sys- 
tem in his calculations as to the coming Messiah and sub- 
sequent destruction, and was certainly sufficiently correct 
to satisfy the minds of those who were immediately con- 
cerned that he was a prophet of truth, and that these events 
were the works of God according to former decree; and 
sufficient for us to know is, that all these things have been 
done by the Euler of the universe without regard to the 
exact time required for their consummation. Neither is it 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 221 

important to us how long this cha.otic period lasted, since 
by it and its cause a knowledge of the power and wisdom 
of the true and living God was riveted on the minds of all 
Christian survivors sufficiently to establish His kingdom on 
earth as it is to-day; and for aught we indubitably know, 
this may be the thirtieth centiiry of our Lord instead of 
the nineteenth. ■ But we mil return to the subject of the 
fall of Babylon. 

In reading this prophecy, remember that it was Jere- 
miah^s effort to portray a scene which was to transpire 
hundreds of years thereafter, and that it was impossible to 
give a literal description; nor was it necessary, but quite 
sufficient to assure them or decla^^e the fact that Babylon 
would fall and the destruction would be appalling. Nor is 
this prophecy an allegory or figure of some other great 
event that might be looked for in the yet future, but noth- 
ing more, nothing less, however, than the downfall of the 
Babylonish empire as the master stroke of the God of 
heaven against heathenism, and the beginning of a work 
which was to result ultimately in total destruction of the 
gods of the earth or graven images, and their power, which 
had been set up in 'opposition to Him. You doubtless re- 
member that Christ said to His disciples that these "wars 
and rumors of wars" were but the beginning of sorrows, 
This is evident, since the breaking of the universal power 
of Babylon gave rise to the exercise of Christian power, 
which bade fair to be great in the land, a,nd hence all other 
powers were turned against it; and as the great and ulti- 
mate contest was between the Christian and Antichrist, it 
is but reasonable to suppose that it would grow hotter and 
still more intense until the saints were delivered up to those 
most skilled in the art of torture : that, if it were possible, 



222 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

they be made to recant, and fall down with their faces in 
the dust and worship the beast. These sickening, heart- 
rending scenes were to continue their bloody .course un- 
til the greatest earthly power and all the skill and ingenuity 
of Antichrist had been brought to bear in every conceivable 
manner upon the poor, tortured, suffering servants of Got! 
and His word: that man might witness its signal failure 
to make even the slightest impression upon the elect or 
adamantine stones prepared for the foundation of that 
gigantic superstructure, the magnilicent city of God or 
marvelous kingdom of heaven in this "world without end.'^ 
Now let us read in the latter part of -chapter 51, the 
last words and prophecy of Jeremiah, the instructions he 
gave Seraiah the chief priest. You will see in verse 59 that 
Jeremiah requested Seraiah to take his. prophecy and read 
it to the Babylonians the year he accompa.nied Zedekiah, 
the king of Judah, to the city of Babylon, about seven years 
before the fall of Jerusalem; for at this latter time, when 
Jerusalem was surrendered, and Zedekiah was made blind, 
a,nd taken a prisoner to Babylon, Seraiah did not reach 
there, but was killed at Riblah. The^ following are instruc- 
tions by Jeremiah to this "quiet prince'^: "So Jeremiali 
wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Bab- 
ylon, even all these words that are written against Bab- 
ylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comes t 
to Babylon and shall see, and shalt read all these words; 
then shalt thou say, Lord, thou hast spoken against this 
place to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man 
nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. And it 
shail be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, 
that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst 
of Euphrates: and thou shalt say. Thus shall Babylon sink, 



Ttvo Thousand Years in Eternity. 223 

and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her : 
and they shall be weary/' 

This book is supposed to have been read to the people 
of Babylon about seven years before the first destruction of 
Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; and by turning to Eevelation 
(eh. 18) we find a reiteration of Jeremiah's prophecy against 
Babylon, ^'the great whore which did corrupt the earth/' 
and tha.t this decree yet stood in full force against the 
mighty city, hundreds of years subsequent to the days of 
Jeremiah, and John testified to the same things immediately 
before they were to occur; and the same illustration was 
given him, which Seraiah (lid before the Babylonians, for 
he said, "A mighty angel took up a stone like a, great mill- 
stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence 
shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall 
be found no more at all." 

Now, reader, let me suggest to your mind a stubborn 
truth, ais firm as the God who rules and swore by Himself 
that the earth shall be filled with His glory. After gener- 
ations will realize with great happiness, in the course of 
God's stupendous operations, that while idolatry, mth all 
of its consequent hideous crime, whoredom, debauchery, and 
miserable deeds of brutal lusts — in short, the wickedness 
of man, did reach its zenith and flourish in its most bril- 
liant state of ,i?audy perfection during the ^ reign of Bab- 
ylon, in her fall it received a inb^tal wound, from which it 
can never recover, though it- rally e^en in the very throes 
of death; yet shall such vile crime, wickedness, and all sin 
continue to sink down in the pit of destruction and the 
smoke of their torment ever ascend, till the last vestige of 
its power be consumed by its own damnable nature; and 
the majestic wave of righteousness and God's eternal glory 



224 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

close above it forever, as did the waters of the Euphrates 
above the rock and roll from Seraiah's hand. 

This fall of Babylon and murderous, blighting defeat 
of the great powers of the earth which had been a-rra.yed 
against the God of heaven was to be the mighty example 
and triumph before the world of His superior power. It 
also broke the galling yoke of His people, liberated the 
surviving saints, or elect, and indeed finally terminated th-^ 
judgment which so long before had been declared should 
begin at the house of God. Here it was the power of the 
Spirit of the omnipotent God gained the ascendency, and 
they clearly saw that it was the Power of all powers that 
would rule the nations of the earth henceforth; and the 
poor careworn servants of the Master who had been faith- 
ful to the end rejoiced also with all those who had been 
"beheaded for the Word of God," that they might have 
peace, liberty, and rest from the tyrannical rule of heath- 
enism which had so sorely tried their patience and faith. 
Let us imagine ourselves under the rule of a beastly tyran- 
nical, heathen king, who supposed his power was derived 
from the image he worshiped and who determined to force 
us by torture to acknowledge the same, contrary to our in- 
tellectual reason and the mandates of the God of heaven 
in our hearts, knowing that our eternal interests depended 
upon the firmness and patience with which we endured the 
agony of physical pain and shameful treatment before an 
austere and pompous people; then we could appreciate the 
language of the liberated saints found in chapter 19 of Eev- 
elation: "Alleluia! Salvation, and glory, and honor, and 
power unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are 
his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which 
^id corrupt the earth with her fornications, and hath 



Ttvo Thousand Years in Eternitij. 225 

avenged the blood of his servants at her hand/' But the 
end is not yet. 

I now call your attention to the fact that the prophet 
Tsaiah (ch. 26) speaks of the pulling down of the great city, 
saying in this song they sang : "For he bringeth down them 
that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he lay- 
eth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the 
dust/*' He also speaks of another, saying: "We have a 
strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bul- 
warks. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which 
keepeth the truth may enter in/' (This is the Christian 
nation.) Eead the song and mark the expression so often 
made use of in the Scriptures, "In that da}^"; meaning 
that great day of retribution when all nations who did not 
recognize the God that made heaven and earth should be 
thrown dowai and their power destroyed to give place to 
the rule of an omnipotent God in the hearts of an intelli- 
gent people. And in this terrific and bloody struggle the 
foundation of this city of God was laid — the days of right- 
eousness; and within its walls man is secure to-da}^, although 
they as yet are scarcely raised above the foundation. The 
prophet, you observe, calls it a strong city, and it is unques- 
tionably the days when truth, righteousness, and virtue are 
the only safeguard to man's temporal and eternal interest 
as it is to-day. Jerusalem was the emblem of this great 
city of God. 

The city which was cast down was the overthrow of 
those days when idolatry and the abominable lusts of men 
revelled in its uninterrupted glory, trampling down and 
shedding the blood of justice and truth, regardless of Him 
who created all things; the day when ignorance prevailed 
and idolatry was the consequence, and man indulged every 



226 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

inclination and desire of his physical nature — unbridled 
licentiousness spread rampant over the world. Babylon 
Avas emblematic of that city or period of the world. 

''In that day" surely the poor oppressed people did re- 
joice at the overthrow of the tyrannical reign of the gods 
of the earth, and the coming peace and protection of a just 
God. Can we not to-day appreciate that song and rejoice? 
"0 Lord, our God, other lords besides thee have had 
dominion over us. They are dead; they shall not live: they 
are deceased; they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited 
and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish." 

These are all transactions pertaining to and upon the 
earth for the good of human beings, and man is given noth- 
ing beyond further than to know he has eternal life through 
the Word or Son of God, and will live in peace here and 
hereatfter by a proper obedience to His Spirit. All things 
written were to inform us in the operations of God in 
the world, and He did constantly admonish man. that He 
could not allow idolatry to rule and wickedness to possess 
the earth He had made for His own purposes; and as the 
day approached for the execution of this stupendous work 
against all such evil, and His indignation could no longer be 
restrained, He ?.aid: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy 
chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as 
it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over- 
past. For behold the Lord conieth out of his place to pun- 
ish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the 
earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover 
her slain.*' 

In the destruction of Babylon of which we have been 
speaking, this great work of God was not complete, the 
head only being destroyed, while it was necessary that all 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 227 

the members of the great body of appalling wickedness and 
sin, in their organized condition, he swept from the face 
of the earth, that righteousness and truth might grow and 
take its place, and glory and praise be given to the God of 
heaven; and its roots are to-day so firmly fixed in the bosom 
of the earth that they can never be torn away; and while 
the stalk with a grovrth of two thousand years is but get- 
ting strength enough to withstand the cruel storms that have 
been hurled against it, yet it will grow and spread till the 
earth be filled and the beautiful city be complete. Let us 
be content, and not expect it in a generation, an age, nor 
even a cycle; but it will be, for God has so declared it. "God 
is Truth," and this growth is real comprehensible truth. 
"Woe to that which loveth and maketh a lie." 

But we are not yet ready to think and talk of the beau- 
tiful city: we could not fully appreciate it were we to fail to 
look at the scene of the final dreadful judgment among liv- 
ing human beings — that last mighty stroke which removed 
all obstacles, swept the floor ready for the foundation, and 
left the earth strewn with the bodies of the dead; the con- 
test so overwhelming in its terror and blood, where none 
save the Word and mighty hand of God was arrayed on 
the one side against the swarming multitude coming from 
every quarter of the earth, and yet they fell slain by the 
sword of His mouth, for at the command every man^s sword 
was turned against his brother. 

Before turning to the prophetic description of this ter- 
rific battle, T ask that you read chapter 24 of Isaiah, and 
see in what manner he understood and described this great 
event which was to occur hundreds of years thereafter: 
bearing in mind all the while that it was, we may say, im- 
possible for him or any of the prophets to give a literal de- 



228 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

scription exactly as it would occur; nor did necessity require 
anything more than that all should, recognize it as the same 
event that each was describing, and that all mankind living 
at the time it transpired should know it to be a fulfillment 
of the prophecies beyond a doubt. Another very important 
matter to be considered while reading the new Scriptures 
is that all the apostles extracted their ideas of the end of 
the world from this prophecy of Isaiah, which you have 
the same power to-day to comprehend. The prophets did 
not all use the same language in their descriptions, and 
why should we think it necessary? Kemember, also, that 
these were only visions to each prophet, conveying the idea 
of greaf destruction of governments, institutions of all 
kinds, and slaughter of all human beings except a remnalnt, 
and a complete revolution of all things; and not only so, 
but that man, now beginning to be sufficiently intelligent 
to understand the operations of the Spirit of God within 
him, and thereby entertain an eternal principle, that Spirit 
was now introduced on the earth, and also through Christ 
to the spirits of tlie dead; which spirits evidently had not 
returned to God, but remained in heaven awaiting the ad- 
vent of the Son or Word of God in the flesh, that they also 
might have an opportunity to accept eternal life and salva- 
tion: which Christ said Himself would be given them (of 
this matter we will speak more definitely in the future), at 
which time all things were made ready for a judgment, not 
only of those living in the flesh, but also the spirits of all 
those who had passed away prior to the advent of the Son 
of God. Therefore the prophets and apostles not only 
spoke of a new earth, but a n^w heaven also. In this con- 
nection I will remind you, while you think of what has just 
been said, that of all the great and important events in the 



Tivo Tliousand Years in Eternity. 229 

works of God we are not allowed a subsequent description; 
only a prophetic account and subsequent results: and do 
not forget this when you oppose my opinion on the subject 
of this second destruction of the world. 

Now, while I have given in a former chapter some quo- 
tations from Isaiah, chapter 24, I here repeat in this con- 
nection, that all the prophets speak of the same thing, and 
that it is the important matter of all their writing: "Be- 
hold the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maJ^eth it waste, 
and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the in- 
habitants thereof The land shall be utterly 

emptied, and utterly spoiled : for the Lord hath spoken this 
word. The earth m'oumeth and fadeth away, the world 
languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the 
earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the in- 
habitants; because they have transgressed the laws, changed 
the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore 
hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell 
therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth 
are burned, and few men left.^^ [Rememlber this language.] 
"The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut 
up, that no man may come in. . . . In the city is left 
desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. When 
thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, 
there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the 
gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. .... The 
earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, 
the earth is moved exceedingly.^' You can turn to the 
third chapter of Peter's second Epistle and see the strong 
language he uses in speaking of this event, which is char- 
acteristic of the man and conveys an erroneous idea; but 
we proceed. "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunk- 



230 Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ard, and shall be removed like a cottage ; and the transgres- 
sion thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and 
not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that 
the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on 
high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they 
shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the 
pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days 
shall they be visited." I here refer yon to Kevelation, chap- 
ter 20, from which I will quote in this connection hereaf- 
ter. John said according to his understanding they were to 
remain in the pit a thousand years; but whether he under- 
stood literally a thousand years, as shown in the vision, I 
can not say: but it is not impossible in its meaning that 
the "Devil and Satan" was bound a thousand years, but it 
is evident that in John's understanding precise time is not 
certain, for it is very certain that this "Devil" or the evil 
and carnal spirits of man — the flesh — was liberated from the 
pit before the final struggle, because he was shown to be 
the agent which assembled the nations for that purpose, 
and it is plain from all other prophecies that such was the 
caise. Jeremiah said he was to give them the "wine-cup of 
the wrath of God." Ezekiel said: "Things shall come into 
thy mind and thou shalt think an evil thought." John 
says: "Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall 
go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters 
of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to 
battle." John again said (Eev., ch. 16) : "And I saw three 
unclean ' spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the 
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the 
mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of 
devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of 
the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 231 

battle of that great day of God Almighty. As to a defini- 
tion of the "Devil," we will see very clearly further on that 
it is man^s physical or carnal nature. 

But before closing this chapter we will turn to the last 
verse in Isaiah (ch. 24), and determine that the prophets 
and apostles were all speaking of the one great and coming 
event; he says: "Then the moon shall be confounded, and 
the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in 
Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients glo- 
riously." In chapter 13 the prophet said: "The sun shall 
be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause 
her light to shine." Joel said: "The sun shall be turned 
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great 
and terrible day of the Lord come." Now as to the moon 
turning to blood, it but reasonable and just to say that this 
was the prophet's understanding of the vision, or his man- 
ner of describing it, seeing that it would look red like blood, 
since no one else thus speaks of it. 

As to the time this should have occurred, he as well 
as others indicated by the tenor of their writing that it was 
during the time which elapsed from the fall of Babylon to 
this great battle. Matthew and Mark say the sun shall be 
darkened and the moon shall not give her light. Luke 
speaks differently, and says: "And there shall be signs in 
the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the 
earth distress of nations, with perplexity." He also further 
on indicates that these signs were to be seen as the time 
approached for the decisive action of the God of heaven 
against the powers of the earth, which resulted in the re- 
demption of the living bodies of His faithful people. 

In regard to the length of time this darkness contin- 
ued, the sacred writers give no account; but there are some 



232 two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

indications of its having lasted many years, and the earth 
might have been thus shrouded for many ages: and it is 
bnt reasonable to snppose that man knew but little, and 
probably nothing, of the general transactions in the differ- 
ent parts of the earth, till he began to emerge from this 
gloom — or rather,' when this mantle of mourning became 
worn threadbare and gradually fell away. 

I believe that the learned of the earth to-day who ob- 
tain knowledge through the channel of profane history, and 
even Bible students who appeal to the profane to support 
the sacred, look upon this as a thing yet to occur; and re- 
fuse to accept as true the declaration of the apostle Luke. 
I will give his words on this subject, written in chapter 21, 
which, if you read carefully, wiJl be sufficient to prove to 
you, mthout further testimony, that the great day of God 
Almighty has long since passed, and all prophecies have 
been fulfilled. You will observe that in this chapter Jesus 
is telling the people, and especially His followers, of this 
great destruction of the world spoken of by the prophets. 
I mil give that which bears most direct upon our part of 
the subject. He says: "And when ye shall see Jerusalem 
compassed with armies, then know that the desolation 
thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to 
the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it 
depart out : and let not them that are in the countries enter 
thereinto. For these he the days of vengeance, that all things 
which are written may he fulfilled.^' Mark the expression 
that when Jerusalem v/as compassed with armies were the 
days when all things written were to be fulfilled. Then 
said he: "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for look- 
ing after those things which are coming on the eartli: for 
the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they 



Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 233 

see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great 
glory/^ Does he not mean the Judgment of the great day? 
Ah! 3^es; and John said of this: '^But in the days of the 
voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, 
the mystery of God should be finished, as he had declared 
to his servants the prophets/^ (Rev., 10.) John also speaks 
of this again in Eevelation, chapter 20, of which we will 
have more to say further on, and he tells us that this ter- 
rific day will come when armies gather and compass Jeru- 
salem; and we do know that Jerusalem, with all of those 
ancient cities, crumbled into ruin many centuries ago; and 
in ordinary historic conversation of the day, the learned 
speak of what is now called the "Dark Ages" of the world, 
never doubting it to be a reality among the periods of the 
remote past; nevertheless they agree that it was since the 
advent of the Messiah. 

And now^ brother craftsmen of the mystic tie, who 
wield the gavel to break oil the rough corners of our human 
nature, and the trowel to spread the cement of brotherly 
love, whose valuables were doubtless deposited in the arch- 
ives during those long hours of rest, and among them per- 
haps the Bible was considered a jewel of great price, you 
date your apprenticeship far back in the history of the 
world, and are now certainly doing a good work on the walls 
of this gTeat city of God. I ask. While you gaze upon the 
ruins of all those doomed cities of antiquity, and see the 
desolate and waste places, for ages overspread with the 
dark mantle of mourning, where once the human family 
revelled in all the luxur}^ and splendor the united world 
could afford, and were buried together with all the works 
of their own hands by the quaking of the earth, and the 
thunders and lightnings of the terrible wrath of an uncom- 



234 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

promising God, has that awful decree been executed which 
was registered before the throne of Grod against the nations 
of the earth in the year that King Ahaz died ? And in mak- 
ing np an opinion, stand firm and fearless before the great 
Architect and Master, no matter what your conclusions 
may be, so long as you are actuated by the Spirit of Truth, 
for it is the Spirit of God. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 235 



CHAPTER XII. 

Prophecy hy Ezehiel. — The Last Great Slaughter. — The Blood 
That Testified on Earth. 

It is not necessary to review the entire book of Eze- 
kieFs prophecies, as they are mainly a repetition of what 
had been foretold by other prophets before his day, and 
the great theme of all was the immense destruction that 
was decreed against the whole earth: and since we have 
already spoken of the fall of Jerusalem and Babylon, we 
will now turn to chapters 38 aJnd 39 and begin to examine 
carefully a portrayal of the last — the most majestic and 
terrific scene in the operations of the Son of G-od, which' 
closed up the period of the bloody reign of the "Word of 
God, and plaaited in the bosom of man an intelligent un- 
derstanding of the Spirit of God, by which He rules the 
world to-day. And I assure you by that Spirit of Truth 
within me, that this great event is the last act and consum- 
mation of that "purpose" or decree for the destruction of 
the nations of the earth before mentioned. Isaiah was the 
first to whom it was made known in anything of a definite 
manner, and he mentioned it frequently in his work, but 
Ezekiel was ordered to publish it to the world in a more 
detailed manner; and Daniel spoke very definitely of the 
time of the execution, so that those who lived then mighl; 
have calculated it within a year or two. All the prophets 
before Christ understood it, and he also, though he knew 
not the exact time of its coming. The apostles and Jesus 



236 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

seem to have obtained their knowledge through the read- 
ing of the prophecies, mainly Isaiah^s, as we have no ac- 
count of it ever being presented to them by the vision, ex- 
cept John on the isle of Patmos, who was allowed a more 
complete view of the entire work than anyone else, for the 
purpose of warning and preparing the saints and elect im- 
mediately before it came upon them; for he was told not 
to seal up the prophecy, as the time was at hand; and the 
Scriptures show that it was so publicly known to the world 
that it had become a subject of great importance to all, 
both saint and sinner, and there is no other destruction 
spoken of an3rvsrhere in the volume of Sacred Writ — I know 
of none whatever; and Jesus did consult the words of 
prophecy in regard to this event, as well as to know certainly 
that He was the Messiah. But we will proceed to examine 
the revelation of poor Ezekiel, whose task was hard; and 
I must ask you to bear with me in my repetitions of various 
parts of Scripture, as it is almost indispensable in convey- 
ing a proper idea: because all of the prophets spoke of the 
same thing, and hence it becomes necessary to refer and 
give you the wording of each in support of any prominent 
point. You know (in support of this) that the four apos- 
tles, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, spoke of the same 
events, and used very much the same phraseology. 

"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. 
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, 
the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy 
against him, and say. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold 1 
am against thee, Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and 
Tubal.^^ From the manner in which Ezekiel speaks, the num- 
ber of the people of Gog must have been very great, and 
with them was gathered Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia; also 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 237 

•'Gonier, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the 
north quarter, and all his bands; and many people with 
thee/^ So that the number of the nations of the earth 
armed and equipped for battle must have been immense; 
far beyond our comprehension, when we take into consid- 
eration that in ages prior, in one single battle between Is- 
rael and Judah alone, after the nation had been divided, 
there fell dead on the field, able, "chosen" men of Israel, 
half a million. But now the nations of the earth are called 
to battle against the Christian people who had been gath- 
ered together and lived in the land of Israel. Then said 
he of Gog: "After many days thou shalt be visited: in the 
latter years thou shalt come into the land tha.t is brought 
back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, 
against the mountains of Israel, which have been always 
waste : but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they 
shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come 
like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, 
thou, and all thy bands, and manv people with thee." N^ow 
this does not mean the Jews around whom the nations were 
to be gathered to battle, but the people of all the nations 
who had accepted the true God under the preaching of the 
gosepl of Christ by the apostles; for, as I said before, after 
the Messiah wajs brought of the house of Judah according 
to the promise to David, that nation was given to the sword 
in the early part of this great "consumption," which was 
under the sounding of the sixth angel, or during the second 
woe, and after the fall of Babylon the believers in the Word 
of God from all nations fled to the Holy Land, where they 
were to witness the last dreadful scene, aJid for a time they 
lived in peace and prosperity, for during this time the 
wicked heathen came not against them, as is indicated in 



238 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Revelation, chapter 20, where Satan was bound and east into 
the pit. Isaiah (ch. 24) said: "They shall be gathered as 
prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in 
the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then 
the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed.^^ And 
Ezekiel says, as I gave you on the previous page, after the 
nations were notified to prepare for battle, which was the 
decree against them: "After many days thou shalt be vis- 
ited.^^ John said (Eevelation, ch. 20): "And when the 
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of 
his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are 
in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather 
them together to battle." Now Daniel was given the method 
of computing the time of the important events, as well as 
Ezekiel, by which they were to know the time of destruc- 
tion, as we shall see hereafter. 

Now it is certainly very plain that all of these prophets 
are speaking of the same event, which was the terrible 
slaughter of the pagan world, the great day of God 
Almighty. 

That the gospel was preached to all nations under the 
heavens by the apostles, preparatory for this event, there is 
not the slightest doubt, as we shall see in a subsequent part 
of this work. And when the first or perhaps the second 
great crash came, in which Babylon fell, the believers in 
the Son of God from the different nations came to the land 
of Israel; for they were to become a nation as they are to- 
day. This was the gathering together of the people of God 
spoken of by the prophet; before whom the heathen were 
to bo gathered and slaiughtered. And Ezekiel says, in verse 
16: "And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, 
as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 239 

and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may 
know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, Gog, before 
their eyes." These '^people of Israel" were not the Jews 
(so called) of to-day, and there is no ground whatsoever for 
so supposing: since all who refused the Word of God, which 
was the Son of God, were classed with the heathen and 
treated as such; and hence we see to-day that the Jews are 
fragmentary, and not national, and there can be but one 
class of God's people — that is, those who came to Him 
through Jesus the Christ. 1 meain those who were con- 
verted of both heathen and Jew by the doctrine preached 
by Christ, and. their children after them. Therefore, in 
speaking of Israel since the days of Jesus, no reference is 
made whatever to the circumcised sons of Abraham, but to 
those exclusively who did believe in the Son of God and re- 
ceived His Spirit, by which they were taught to crucify the 
flesh, and thereby be circumcised in heart. Turn to Eom- 
ans, chapter 2; read carefulh^, and cease to look upon the 
people who believe in the circumcision of the flesh having 
any relation to God: "For he is not a Jew, which is one 
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward 
in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and cir- 
cumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the 
letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Circum- 
cision was wholly worthless to God after Israel was divorced : 
and all of that nation who came to and were accepted of 
God were forced to come through Jesus the Christ as any 
other heathen ; therefore it is said in Revelation, chapter 3 : 
"Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan which 
say they are Jews, and are not, lut do lie. 

N'ow this Christian people were gathered together at 
some time prior to or we may say during those days of 



240 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

vengeance where they were to witness this last, most con- 
vincing act, which did complete the testimony for Christ as 
the Word of God (or, as the prophet said, "sanctified" the 
Word), and finished His work on the earth. God also put 
it into the minds of the heathen, by the operation of those 
spirits which He allows to influence the wicked for their 
own destruction, even at the present day; so that the in- 
habitants of the whole earth flocked like migrating birds, 
and gathered around and upon the Holy Land like flies upon 
the mouldering carcass, not knowing that handful of God's 
faithful children were safely sheltered beneath His mighty 
wings, and that their strong force of defense was the Word 
of God. He had said He would protect and support all 
those who kept the faith, by whom the kingdom was to be 
established; that He would assemble their enemies around 
them and slay them before their eyes, by the word of His 
mouth, and there they stood as a flock of sheep, surrounded 
by ravenous beasts of all kinds, eager to devour them, and 
no visible army of defense; and still the enemy in clouds 
gathered and crowded around, lank and hungry for the 
blood of the innocent, until like caterpillars they covered 
all the hills and valleys of Israel, as well as the vast adja- 
cent country. They "surrounded Jerusalem and the camp 
of the saints" who knew the time was fast hastening, for 
they could not hold out much longer, and there was no 
help, no support, save the promises of their God; and the 
important one uppermost in their minds, which swelled 
their hearts as they silently gazed into the heavens, was, "He 
had said that in due time his Word would be there to ^turn 
every man^s sword against his brother.' " Luke said (chap- 
ter 21), in regard to the assembling of these massive armies 
about the Holv Land: "And then shall they see the Son 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 241 

of Man coming in a cloud with- power and great glory. And 
when these things begin to come to pass^, then look up, and 
lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh/^ Oh, 
how intense was the anxiety of that hour ! how dreadful the 
test of those precious stones which had been hewn out for 
the foundation of this glorious edifice! but they crumbled 
not, and were cemented together, with Christ at the head 
of the corner. This was a real act, a scene that was wit- 
nessed on the earth; let us turn and see how it was brought 
about by the spirits that were sent to operate on the minds 
of the nations: 

"Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, 
tha,t at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and 
thou shalt think an evil thought: and thou shalt say, I wlW 
go up to the land of un walled villages; I will go to them 
that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling mth- 
out walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil 
and to take a prey; to turn thy hand upon the desolate 
places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are 
gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and 
goods, that dwell in the midst of the land." This certainly 
does refer to the Christian people, gathered together after 
the fall of Babylon, who dwelt unfortified; and it is just to 
suppose that the heathen nations of the earth, far and neax, 
did not know the power of the God of heaven, and that He 
would protect His people without walls. This alone was 
remarkable in that age of the world, that there could be 
any power stronger than walls to protect a people and en- 
able them to dwell safely. Think a moment of the vast 
difference in the entire Christian world to-day: we have all 
advanced far enough, and obtained a sufficient knowledge 
and wisdom from God, to understand that truth and right- 



242 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

eoTisness is as a wall of fire about a man or people, and 
there is no one who does not feel its influence. 

We see from the preceding how Ezekiel understood 
and described the manner of assembling the nations to the 
slaughter; and we will now turn and read the more definite 
light in which it was presented to John^ in Avhich we will 
see clearh^ how that the gospel was to be preached to all 
nations, that the elect might thus be found and sealed with 
the Holy Ghost before the destruction began, which was 
represented to John by angels possessing great power; and 
after this was done, then the destroying angels were loosed 
to begin their work, which was carried on from age to age 
antil the crisis came. This was begun under the sounding 
of the sixth angel, when the slaughter began; as Christ said 
there would be wars and rumors of wars, but these were 
just the beginning of sorrows. Now while it is interesting 
to follow the work of the angels with trumpets and the 
angels with the vials of the "seven plagues,'^ we will pass 
on to the time when the sixth angel poured out his vial on 
the great river Euphra^tes, at which time the nations began 
to engage in more active wars prior to the battle of Gog. 
the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. So now we will re- 
turn to Eevelation, chapter 7: "And after these things I 
saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, 
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should 
not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having 
the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice 
to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth 
and the sea, saying. Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, 
nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in 
their foreheads.'^ Now follow closely and let me tell you; 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 243 

The four destroying angels are the nations of the fonr quar- 
ters of the globe preparing for conquest: the angel which as- 
cended from the east, having the seal of the living God, is 
Christ; the seal is the Holy Ghost; the servants are the 
elect who were scattered among all nations, found by preach- 
ing the gospel of Christ, and you remember they were 
sealed with the Holy Ghost or Spirit of promise, and be- 
came a kind of first fruits to God, as we shall see further 
on; but if you will excuse me for pausing here a moment, 
I will give you the number: "And I heard the number of 
them which were sealed: and there were sealed a hundred 
and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the chil- 
dren of Israel." These were the elect, to find whom the 
gospel of Christ was preached to all nations preparatory 
for the destruction. But now that the work is done, the 
wars and rumors of wars begin, and wq pass on to chapter 
9: "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes 
more heareafter." Which is under the sounding of the 
sixth and seventh angel and the pouring out of the sixth 
and seventh vial of plagues, which are the same, differently 
described: "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a 
voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is be- 
fore God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet. 
Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river 
Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were 
prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, 
for to slay the third part of men." So now you see that, 
the gospel being preached to all nations and the servants 
of God being sealed, all was ready for the troubles and sor- 
rows to begin, and hence the four angels were ordered to 
be loosed, and preparations are being made for the assem- 
bling of the nations to battle; and we go on to the sixteenth 



244 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

chapter, to see what the preparations were and how they 
were induced to march into the vortex of eternal ruin: 
"And the sixth angel poured ont his vial upon the great 
river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that 
the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And ' 
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth 
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out 
of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits 
of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings 
of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the 
battle of that great day of God Almighty. . . . And he 
gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew 
tongue Armageddon.^' 

These things were all done immediately before and 
preparatory for the operations of the seventh angel: dur- 
ing which time all things written were to be fulfilled, com- 
pleting the entire work, even laying the foundation of His 
kingdom with living stones. 

In chapter 20 John speaks of assembling the multi- 
tude in the following manner: "And when the thousand 
years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison 
and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the 
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them 
together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of 
the sea.'' 

You can now certainly understand from the preceding 
quotations that the great work of preparing the heathen 
world for the last act, and one sweeping stroke of the exe- 
cutioner's axe, which put an end to all opposition to the 
God of heaven and the persecution of the Christian people, 
Avas done under the sounding of the sixth angel and the 
pouring out of the sixth vial of the wrath of God. And 



Two Thousand Years in Bternitii. 245 

now you see the mighty army of the whole world arrayed 
in close order, ready for the contest, and they little thought 
that as in the days of Gideon, when he conquered the hosts 
of the Midianites with but three hundred men, Avithout 
sword or spear, that they were to slaughter each other, 
though the Christian people were not armed, neither were 
they expected to fight, but the power of the true and liv- 
ing God was to be displayed in support and defense of a 
helpless people who had trusted His Word. And here you 
will remember that Ezekiel said of this great battle, that 
every man^s sword would be turned against his brother, 
which should forcibly bring to your mind the power of the 
Spirit of God in the hearts of men, for it was in this ma:^- 
ner He made them kill themselves; and the battle being 
over, the victory — the everlasting victory was gained over 
heathenism and the kingdom of God established for ever as 
it is this day. Now let us turn to Eevelation, chapters 11 
and 16, and see the result of the sounding of the seventh 
angel and the pouring out of the seventh vial of wrath, as 
follows : 

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and 
he shall reign for ever and ever.^^ There is more said upon 
this point, but I have quoted enough here to convey the 
idea, and we will refer to this further on; so we now turn 
to the effect of the last vial of wrath, which was poured 
out just after the nations were assembled at the place 
called Armageddon ; and this power of the Spirit of God 
upon the heart and minds of men to accomplish a certain 
work was shown or illustrated before the prophet by the 
following: "And the seventh angel poured out his vial 



246 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

into the air; and there came a great voice out of the tem- 
ple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And 
there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there 
was a great earthquake, snch as was not since men were 
npon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And 
the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities 
of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance 
betore God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the 
fierceness of his wrath." 

Again let me suggest a lew plain facts deduced from 
the preceding quotations, which are supported by other 
paTts of the Scriptures, and they are important things to 
think of in reading this book. John said there was a great 
voice out of the temple in heaven, saying, ''It is done." 
Ezekiel (ch. 39) said, after this battle was fought against 
Gog as he saw it in the vision: "Behold it is come, and it 
is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have 
spoken." This was the great day of God Almighty, the 
"judgment day." Now you remember John said, when the 
seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, that "there 
was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were 
upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great, and 
the great city was divided into three parts." Just here I 
wish to make a suggestion for your consideration, which I 
hope you will not treat with indifference, especially if you 
be a scientific observer and inquire into the "why" of all 
things that come up before you. The "great city" spoken 
of is the earth, or landed portion of it as it then existed, 
inhabited by man, and of this there is not a doubt in my mind, 
since the Scriptures thus teach me in their general tenor. 
Now is it not a fact that this earthquake produced the East- 
ern and Western Hemispheres, the Australian continent, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 24*? 

and many islands ? And would it not thus divide the great 
city into three parts according to the prophet^s vision? I 
do not propose to argue with you on this subject, as I did 
not set out to investigate such things; but I call your atten- 
tion to the fact that the prophet said in this connection^, 
'^And the cities of the nations fell/^ and do declare as a 
stubborn fact, which cannot be refuted, that the great mass 
of the cities of antiquity did meet their predicted doom by 
this earthquake and crumbled to their foundations, and 
they are nowhere to be found upon the earth to-da}^ — ^not 
one : and this is true to a demonstration which no man will 
dare to deny, and it is equally trae that the great battle 
of Gog has been fought, and the land of Armageddon was 
drenched and flooded with the blood of the nations, cycles 
an^d centuries in the past, and such slaughter will never be 
known again on this earth, aind I thank the God of heaven 
that it has been my lot to live in a subsequent age. 

But we will return to Ezekiel (ch. 38), who shows the 
object of this terrific work, and that it was the same and 
no other than the great day of God Almighty, the identical 
eventful period, and the only one spoken of by the proph- 
ets, looked for by Christ and the apostles as well as the peo- 
ple with most intense anxiety. It was the time when some 
said the world would be burned up; others called it the end 
of the world, and was all the end spoken of in the entire 
volume except the days of ISToah. 

This prophet said: "And thou shalt come up against 
my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall 
be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, 
that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified 
in thee, Gog, before their eyes." ISTow it is very reas- 
onable, if we but think a moment, that the heathen, who 



248 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

had always believed that all power existed in their gods, 
could never have been made to think that the unseen God 
of heaven was mightier, without the shedding of blood, even 
a consuming butchery executed by an unknown power and 
without hands. This also established the people of the liv- 
ing God in their faith and confidence so perfectly that time 
and all opposing powers and influences that could possibly 
be brought to bear could not destroy it; and we see to-day 
that the belief in the true God is such that the entire Chris- 
tian world could never — no, never be induced to believe in 
and trust the power of a heathen god rather than the God 
of heaven. 

But let us read on for further evidence that this is the 
time of the final consummation of all things: "Art thou 
he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the 
prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many 
years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall 
come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against 
the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall 

come up in my face And I will call for a sword 

against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord 
God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And 
I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; 
and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the 
many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and 
great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify 
myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the 
eyes of many nations, and they shall hnow that I am God the 
Lord." 

Most unquestionably the great object of God in all of 
His previous works was to make Himself known among 
men as the God of omnipotence and omniscience. This was 



Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 249 

and is His glory which He swore should fill all the earth, 
"as the waters .cover the sea" ; and we readily understand 
such a thing to be impossible, nnless all mankind through- 
out the length and breadth of the earth recognize Him to 
be the only God, to the exclusion and total destruction of 
all graven images, or idols in the hearts of men. And can 
you not see that this being the great day of God's judgment, 
or day of reckoning with the whole world, that beyond a 
shadow of doubt the earth is to be filled with His glory 
subsequent to this great and terrible day of the Lord ? Was 
this the "end of the world,'' the days when all things writ- 
ten should be fulfilled, when God the Father and God the 
Son finished their direct work on the earth and left it to 
the rule of the Spirit? It certainly wais; but let us look 
further into the matter; and while I hope we will have time 
to peruse the entire book of Eevelation together, I ask, 
since we are more directly interested in what transpired 
in the latter days, that you begin to examine in a reasonable 
manner what was done under the operation of the sixth 
angel, to which we will revert in the future if God per- 
mit. John said the second woe paissed during this time 
(ch. 11), and then, said he: "The seventh angel sounded, 
and there were great voices in heaven, saying. The king- 
doms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, 
and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." 
Do you think this is true? Shall we ever retrograde and 
sink beneath the ignorant and oppressive rule of idolatry? 
or will we gradually but surely rise above it in the beauty 
and glory of intelligence, and stamp it out from the face 
of the earth for ever ? I appeal to your own good common- 
sense and reason, guided by that sublime Spirit of Truth 
and intelligence which God has given you, and ask. What 



250 Two Thousand Tears m Eternity. 

is your opinion? And will not all the earth sooner or later 
fall down and worship that God who raised ns to so exalted 
a position of peace and happiness, as did the four and 
twenty elders who sat before Him? John said further (eh. 
11): "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come/^ 
[Ezekiel (ch. 38, v. 18) described it thus: "And it shall 
come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against 
the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall 
come up in my face."] "and the time of the dead, that 
they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give 
reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the 
saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; 
and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth/^ Up- 
on this part of the subject I wish to say for your consider- 
ation, that it was not necessary for those living on the earth 
to witness the reward of those who had hitherto lain in 
their graves; indeed, it is contrary to the entire system of 
God's operation for those living in the flesh to see and un- 
derstand the transaction among beings clothed with spir- 
itual bodies, beyond a knowledge that on certain conditions 
we have an eternal life of peace and happiness. But that 
all who feared the name of God, small and great, were 
raised and clothed with a spiritual body, as we will be when 
this corrupt body of flesh and blood is dropped, I doubt not 
at all; and further, that there was seen in the heavens by 
all the people of God an emblem of the Son of God, or, 
that you may the better understand my ideas, I will say, 
the Word of God (here please refer to 1 John, chapter 3, 
who says: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it 
doth not yet appear what we sha;ll be: but we know that 
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see 
him as he is''; for (I do not mean the body of Jesus) in 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 251 

some form and dress, even ^^a vesture dipped in blood" (Eev- 
elation, chapter 19), is just as reasonable as His ascension, 
or that Peter saw Moses and Elias on the Mount of Trans- 
figuration, or that Ezekiel and the beloved Daniel saw the 
Son of God in the heavens accompatoied by the two 
seraphim, whose emblems stood constantly in the Sanctum 
Sanctorum on either side of the mercy seat. Certainly He 
was seen in power and great glory in the performance of 
this terrible work, so that all could know that it was the 
"Word of God" atnd understand the mysterious operations 
of His Spirit, which was necessary for the verification of all 
things previously declared, that the name of God might be 
thoroughly established as it is to-day. And this is why so 
many of the human family, even at this infantile age of 
the world, fear the great power of the God of heaven; and 
although they do not obey properly His mandates through 
the Spirit, yet they scorn the power of the gods of the 
the earth and refuse to shelter themselves beneath it. 

In the last verse of this chapter (11), John said: "The 
temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen 
in his temple the ark of his testament : and there were light- 
nings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and 
great hail." Turn now to chapter 16, and see the different 
manner of presenting these same scenes which arose under 
the operation of this seventh angel; for John described 
this great work in three or four different ways and places, 
as the four principal prophets foretold them, and the four 
apostles testified of the life of Christ and gave the same 
history. Here it states that "the seventh angel poured out 
his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of 
the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done," 
etc. (which I have given you on former pages), and in this 



252 Two Thousand Years in Eternit'ji. 

same chapter John describes the same great hailstones 
spoken of by Ezekiel in that final terrific scene (ch. 38). 

Now to all who read this I wish to say, relative to the 
above mentioned scene, that it was an actual occurrence on 
the earth numbered with the things of the past. Then it 
was the great walls of the nations fell, and the doomed cities 
of antiquity sank into ruins, many of them far beyond the 
reach of mortal man — and why do you doubt it? Where 
are the multitude of beautiful cities that once adorned the 
earth; even the hundreds that were divided among the tribes 
of Israel, to say nothing of the daughters of the Philis- 
tines, and the many other uncircumcised nations? I as- 
sure you they have long since found graves in the bosom 
of the earth ; they fell at the command of God by the mighty 
earthquake which shook all things on the earth and in the 
sea; and there was weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of 
teeth, as they sank into the silent tomb. Doubt it not, 
but thank and glorify the God of heaven that the inhabit- 
ants of the earth will never— no, never again be called upon 
to witness or required to pass through an ordeal so fiery, 
so terrific and appalling, and so fraught with pain and sor- 
row; nevertheless, the world will be subjected to sore chas- 
tisement from time to time, perhaps often yet; and dreadful 
destruction ensue: for the wicked and unrighteous must 
perish, and the Spirit of God possess and rule the earth. 
Then let us pray for the time to be hastened when the will 
of God be done on earth as it is done in heaven, though the 
next appalling destruction of evil begin within a year, a 
month, or even a day. 

Turn now to Eevelation, chapter 20, and read another 
description' of this scene of blood, a little more pointed, 
and we may say more tangible, as it was again presented 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 253 

to John. After Satan went ont to deceive the nations of 
the fonr quarters of the earth, God and Magog, to gather 
them together to battle, "They went np on the breadth of 
the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and 
the beloved city" [Jerusalem], "and fire came down from 
God out of heaven and devoured them." This fire was the 
sword which God said He would send among them when 
every man's sword should be against his brother, and was the 
beginning of the last dreadful scene on the earth, and im- 
mediately John was presented with a scene of the judgment 
of the departed spirits of all who had died prior to the com- 
ing of Christ, mth which men in the flesh had nothing to 
do, and did not see, but was as necessary to God as the ter- 
rific judgment sent upon living human beings; for all those 
in the Spirit who would not accept God through the preach- 
ing of Christ in the Spirit were intended to be given to the 
sword, just the same as the unbelieving heathen dwelling 
in the flesh; and this is why God said by the mouth of 
Isaiah, "My sword shall be bathed in heaven." And was 
this not the end of the world spoken of by all sacred writers 
and Jesus who was the Christ? Most certainly it was, for 
there is no other mentioned — where can you place the 
doubt? Shake off the iron shackles of the doctrine of 
men; stand up like sons and daughters of Almighty God, 
guided by His Spirit in your search for truth; look carefully 
over this colossal subject again, and decide this question 
for yourself. You have the Spirit of Truth, "and need not 
that any man teach you." Do not look for an end such as ; 
will leave the earth without inhabitants, or obliterate it 
from God's universal system; for there is no such end men- 
tioned by prophet nor apostle. "For thus saith the Lord 
that created the heavens: . God himself that formed tliQ 



254 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

earth and made it; he created it not in vain, he formed it 
to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none else/' 
He also said, ^^Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an 
everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor con- 
founded world without end.'' Mark the langujaJge, ^'world 
without end" — not heaven without end, nor the paradise of 
God above, but here on the earth. 

You will find in Isaiah (ch. 25) where the prophet 
shows the revelations of God, and tells of these present 
days when heathenism should not prevail over the people, 
but that they should be enlightened, and recognize the true 
God instead of idols, and understand His great works; and 
that all this prophecy should be accomplished "in that day" 
of this terrible national destruction, which is the important 
subject-matter of all the Scriptures and was the time when 
the intellectual reason of man was convinced of the power 
of the unseen God, and His creatures were able to begin 
to understand His operations. John said: "In the days 
of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to 
sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath 
declared to his servants the prophets." Daniel said: "And 
make an end of sins." And while you read, place yourself 
back in your imagination, if possible, under cover of the 
dark and heavy veil of heathenismi, as were those in that 
day, without a ray of intelligent knowledge of the God of 
heaven; then pass on through the fiery ordeal, and witness 
this bloody scene by the powers of heaven according as it 
ha,d been foretold hundreds of years, and tell me; do you 
not think the problem would be solved, the veil thrown off, 
and the mystery explained? Isaiah (ch. 25, v. 7) says, in 
speaking of this day: "And he will destroy in this moun- 
tain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 255 

veil that is spread over all nations/^ Those mysterious 
things have passed away, and had we lived in that day, we 
could have exclaimed as they: "The kingdoms of this 
world have become the kingdoms of our Lord." 

God foresaw the necessity of this act, and hence He 
had an object in view, which I hold is plain to be seen and 
understood by all of His people who seek knowledge by the 
Spirit of Trath; and not only so, but all other former mys- 
teries of ITis operations concerning man. I ha.ve spoken 
sufficiently, perhaps, of His object in the former chapter, 
and hence I will simply reiterate here, that it was for the 
purpose of making His name known throughout the length 
and breadth of the whole earth, to both Jew and Gentile, 
as the only God who held in His hand the destiny of man 
and wielded the scepter over the universe, j^ow to this 
end He said He would leave but the sixth part of the people 
of God, and hence it must be that some were left. He said 
He would give His mighty army to the fowls of the air and 
the beasts of the field. "Thou shalt fall upon the open field^ 
for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God." In Eevelation, 
chapter 14, he said: "The winepress wa.s trodden without 
the city," which refers to the same thing; and if this word 
had been declared hundreds of years before, when the blood 
began to flow like a river upon the land of Israel, did it 
not prove beyond a remote doubt that it was God who spoke ? 
Yes, and the Word of God was the Son of God. When the 
mighty waters floated the ark and hid the loftiest moun- 
tains with the mantle of mourning, did it not afford over- 
whelming proof to I^oah that it was God who whispered 
the command a hundred and twenty years before? Cer- 
tainly it was tlie Father who guided his untutored hand. 

"And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them 



256 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

that dwell carelessly in the isles^ and they shall know that 
I am the Lord. So will I make my holy name known in 
the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pol- 
lute my holy name any more; and the heathen shall Jcnow 
that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel/' Do yon think 
that the intelligence which God has given man will ever 
allow him to stoop to shame^, and pollute His holy name 
before stocks and stones? iN'ay; my confidence in the Word 
of Almighty God, which is proven to me by man's pres- 
ent condition, cries out against it, and says in thunder 
tones, "Never — no, never again !^' 

]N'ow I have been trying to impress upon your mind, 
in previous parts of this work, that there was a certain great 
day, in the which God was to do a marvelous work, 
and that it was known by different names, and that it 
not only interested all sacred writers, but was a theme 
of the greatest magnitude for their thoughts; and Daniel 
said, relative thereto, his cogitations "much troubled'' 
him: and in the days of Christ and after He left the earth, 
the apostles and disciples lost no time in preparing for it. 
I have also calJed your attention to the manner in which 
God expressed Himself through the holy prophets, in 
speaking of events that were to occur at that notable time 
or period, saying, "In that day it shall come to pass," etc. : 
and now He says in Ezekiel (ch. 39, v. 8): "Behold, it is 
come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day 
whereof I have spohen.'' ^NTow if you will but lay aside all prej- 
udice, and the influence of the precepts of men, you will 
see at this particular place that the prophet has reference 
to the day or time of the great battle with Gog and Magog, 
and by tracing it through the Scriptures you will also see 
that it was opened up by the terrible and bloody contest 



T'wo Thousand Years in Eternity. 257 

with Antichrist spoken of by Daniel, and, as I have shown 
yon in Eevelation, chapters 11, 16, and 20, you will see that 
this battle was fought during the sounding of the seventh 
angel, when all things written were to be fulfilled; and with 
what proximity it was followed by a type of the great judg- 
ment of- the spirits of all those who had died prior to the 
coming of Christ, which certainly was to be executed at the 
time of this appalling judgment of human beings, and was 
quite as necessary according to the Word of God. But we 
hope to give time to revert to this part of iiie subject in the 
future, and hence we pass on, and ask that you read the re- 
mainder of this thirty-ninth chapter of Ezekiel, that you 
may know something of the magnitude of the destruction. 
It was said by the prophet, as you will see, that those who 
were left of Israel should take no wood from the forest for 
fire, but burn the weapons of the enemy for seven years; 
and so great was the slaughter, that all Israel was engaged 
seven months burying the dead on their land in order to 
cleanse it, and at the end of seven months they should set 
apart men who were to be continually employed at the work 
till the land was cleansed; and the place given for the burial 
of Gog and his multitude was a valley eaist of the sea, and 
the prophet said, "They shall call it the valley of Hammon- 
gog." Now you can clearly understand that this valley was 
not so called until after it was made a burial-place as above 
mentioned, after which it went by that name, according 
to the words of the prophet, and did prove that the proph- 
ecy was from God. And to-day there must be a valley 
somewhere east of — perhaps the Sea of Galilee, which was 
known in ages past, if not now, by the name of Hammon- 
gog. Those who were slain outside the land of Israel evi- 



258 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

dently were without burial, and "as dung upon the ground/^ 
as was stated elsewhere. 

But read on, the horrifying invitation to the fowls of 
the air, and the beasts of the field to come up on every side, 
to eat the flesh of princes, and mighty men, with all the 
men of war, and to drink their blood. Pause here and 
think a moment — "every feathered fowF^ and "every beast 
of the field" was invited to assemble and come to the feast. 
!N'ow exert your powers of imagination and see if you can 
comprehend so l^rrible a thing. While in those days many 
wild beasts followed the various armies to feed upon the 
slain, now they assemble by thousands, every carnivorous 
kind, and coming up on every side, howling with hunger, 
they await the slaughter of God^s sacrifice; and now see 
them eating and drinking, even drunk and rioting at the 
great carnival of human bodies; and while you remember 
that in all former sacrifices the fat and the blood was God's, 
see now He has given to the beasts and birds. "And ye 
shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be 
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 
Thus ye shall be filled at my table,'^ etc. 

The nineteenth chapter of Eevelation shows that the 
above was to occur at the second advent of the Son of God, 
and is the terrible judgment of the nations of the earth; 
and as you read, bear in mind that the Scriptures do not 
indicate that the body of Jesus would be present on that 
occasion; but, to the contrary, the disciples did not know 
what kind of a body He would be clothed with, but that 
they expected to be made like Him, so far as their spir- 
itual existence was concerned, though He was to be distin- 
guished from all others, and the description of Him given 
here is much the same as that by other prophets on pre- 



Two Thousand. Years in Eternity. 259 

vious occasions. John said: "His eyes were as a flame of 
fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name 
written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was 
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is 
called The Word of God" Further on you will find that 
it was He who would "tread the winepress of the fierceness 
of the wrath of Almighty God.^^ What more do you want 
than the Word of God? The body of Jesus was not re- 
quisite to the mind of a thinking man. Idolatry in its 
stupid and ignorant condition required a visible and tan- 
gible body; we do not. A^erses 1? and 18 of this same chap- 
ter show conclusively that John and Ezekiel both speak of 
the same great event, when the heathen nations were pros- 
trated to give rise to the Christian people, and the sacri- 
fice of Almighty God was -lain by His o^^tl hand, or "word 
of mouth,^^ as follows: "And T saw an angel standing in 
the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the 
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven. Come and gather 
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that 
ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and 
the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of 
them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free 
and bond, both small and great." Is it not enough for 
us to know that the "Word of God" was present in that 
great day to execute judgment? And is our intelligence 
not yet suflicient, a.fter all the teaching of Jesus, to under- 
stand the power of the Spirit and Word of God except it 
be clothed in the body of a man? Surely the great object 
of Christ was to teach us the immense power of the Spirit 
of God operating in the heart of individuals and nations, 
and I think it time that we should open our eyes to these 
things, and look upon them in their proper light. 



260 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Now, dear reader, whoever you may be, think it not 
strange, but this was the great supper of the Lord God Al- 
mighty, which He spread at the close of that eventful and 
blood-washed day, the period over which the Son, His 
Word, presided. Appalling as the thought may be, this 
was the great winepress of the wrath of God. "And the 
winepress was trodden without the city/' (Rev., ch. 14. 
vs. 19-20.) "Thou Shalt fall upon the open field: for 1 

have spoken it saith the Lord God Behold, 

it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the 
day whereof I have spoken." (Ezekiel, ch. 39, vs. 5, 8.) 

Consider my words at the close of this chapter, for it 
contains some of the truths that flesh and blood did not 
teach me; nevertheless, they are truths pointed out by the 
Spirit of God, and the world will sooner or later shake off 
the veil that now hangs only in shreds, and see and under- 
stand all of those glorious truths, by which fear is removed 
to give place to love and adoration for that great Archi- 
tect who constantly lays out the work for the craft, and 
day by da^^ directs its execution by His mighty Spirit of 
Eternal Truth in the hearts of men. And thus it is that 
the beautiful city, the New Jerusalem, is gradually but 
with great certainty being built ; and while you and I were 
]iot present at the laying of that polished and brilliant 
Corner-stone, let us rejoice and in humbleness thank and 
praise the God of heaven that the day is numbered among 
those buried deep down in the past, in which the blood was 
drawn from human veins to cement the living stones that 
now lie in the foundation of this gigantic superstructure. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 261 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

Prophecy of Daniel. 

Kow I have stated previously that because Judah and 
Israel went back to heathenism, and even did far worse than 
any of the heathen nations, and refused to be an example 
before the world of the mercies, and great blessings of the 
God of heaven as the reward of obedience, He determined 
to show to the world that He would as certainly reward them 
evil for disobedience, and hence He forced them under a 
heathen king, and with them all other nations on the tauce 
of the earth; and that He selected individuals from among 
men, who would trust the God of heaven rather than idols, 
by whom He would and did establish His glorious kingdom 
on the earth, and these were the elect. I have also said in 
substance, that when all things were ready, and heathenism 
reached its acme (which was the fullness of the Gentiles), 
that He would with His own hand, or word of His mouth, 
sever the arteries of the pagan body, that the blood might 
continue to t]ow till idoltar}^, with all of its hideous crime, 
would sink beneath the wave of righteousness forever. I 
have endeavored to show you in part, and now say, that this 
kingdom which is to extend throughout the length and 
breadth of the whole earth to the destruction of all other 
kingdoms, and is operated by the Spirit of God in the 
hearts of men, to destroy all evil, and make us pure, that 
we may thoroughly understand the commands of God, each 
for himself, and obey them every moment of our lives, day 



262 Two Thousand Years 4n Eternity. 

and night, is that Beautiful City of God. And I can find 
no authority whatever for disbelieving that it will continue 
forever; there are no declarations in the entire volume of 
sacred writings that justify the opinion that it is to be de- 
stroyed, if ^ye carefully examine them. 

In support of the above, or the view I have of the en- 
tire work of God among His subjects on the earth, I would 
be grievously unjust, not only to myself and those who may 
read this work, but to that most noble and beloved prophet, 
Daniel, if I failed to introduce his astounding visions and 
revelations. And while it is impossible for us to know, and 
worse than folly to try to determine who the various kings 
were that he mentioned who rose and fell, or even the last 
one of "fierce countenance" who stood up before and de- 
fied the powers of the God of heaven, yet his language and 
narration is so pointed and complete, and carries with it 
such dignified force, that one could scarcely question its 
truth were there no corroborative testimony. But to the 
contrary, it seems that much of the language of the New 
Testament Scriptures, and especially that of Eevelation, as 
well as Clirist himself, point more or less directly to the 
declaration of this earnest, intelligent, and excellent man. 

Turn to and read the second chapter of Daniel, rel- 
ative to the dream and vision of ^Nebuchadnezzar, bearing 
in mind that we ]iow live in the age and period of intelli- 
gence spoken of in the Scriptures, in which we should un- 
derstand the. operations of God, which to them in that age 
were mysterious; and let us begin to test that intelligence 
by applying it to His great works as presented in the Script- 
ures, and see if they accord with that system of reasoning 
placed within us. 

God was determined that Nebuchadnezzar should 



Tico Thousand, Years in ISternity. 263 

know that nothwithstanding he was king of the worlds and 
the greatest recognized power on the earth, there was a 
Power greater, in Whose hands the destiny of all things 
rested, and this was most beautifully accomplished by all 
traces of the vision being erased from his mind, only to be 
reprinted by an agent of the God of heaven. For, as you 
see, Nebuchadnezzar forgot his dream; and while there was 
not a living being knew what passed before his mind in 
sleep, Daniel did, by the Spirit of God, tell it to him ex- 
actly as it occurred. It was also put into the mind of the 
king to test the professed power which men claimed to pos- 
sess mentally and intellectually, apart from God, the source 
of all intelligence; so "The king commanded to call the 
magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the 
Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came 
and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I 
have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know 
the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syr- 
iac, king, live forever: tell thy servants the dream, and 
we will show the interpretation. The king answered and 
said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye 
will not make known unto me the dream with the interpre- 
tation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses 
shall be made a dunghill." Again they asked him to tell 
them the dream, and they would give the interpretation, 
and again he told them he had forgotten it, and that if they 
could tell him the dream, he would know they were capable 
of giving a correct interpretation, and if they could not, 
then there was but one decree for them, which was death. 
"The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said. There 
is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's mat- 
ter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked 



264 Two Thousand Tears in Mterniiy. 

such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 
And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is 
none other that can shew it hefore the king,- except the 
gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. For this caiuse the 
king was angTy, and very furious, and commanded to de- 
stroy all the wise men of Babylon.'' And Daniel and his 
fellows were sought to be slain also. Then Daniel went in 
and besought the king that he would give him time, and he 
would tell the dream and give the interpretation, which 
he did. 

Now while man could devise no better method than 
this, he must, according to his system of reasoning, admit 
under standingly that this evidence of ihe power of the God 
of heaven was the most conclusive and convincing to Neb- 
uchadnezzar, being written in his heart as plainly as it was 
written in the heart or mind of Daniel. It is also plain that 
as this knowledge and influence of God was to govern the 
earth and last forever, the evidence which was to establish 
it must be perfect, indubitable, and most powerful; and 
with this understandiixg let us examine further. See now 
how plain the proposition is, and how strictly it accords 
with our reason; yet it was a mysterious work to them at 
that age and time. It is this, that to thoroughly convince 
man, who was emerging from primitive ignorance, that 
the source of all power ^^as the invisible God, an ocular 
demonstration was absolutely necessary; and that it might 
be thoroughly convincing, and perfect in its operations, 
God selected the one shown in the vision, and for that pur- 
pose the whole world was placed under the rule of one man, 
Nebuchadnezzar; and we must confess that man with all 
his reasoning faculties could not conceive a better; but I 
think we can safely say that the only plan of operation was 



Tloo Thousand Years in Eternity. 265 

to assemble and combine all the known powers of the* earth, 
and so concentrate and fortify them as to fill the measure 
of man^s most exalted idea of strength and power, and then 
show to him that it was but a shadow in the scale with that 
power which hurled them into a helpless, lifeless, decaying 
mass by a single breath a.nd without hands; which was done 
in this last terrible slaughter of Gog, which did destroy the 
powers of the earth, which had been concentrated in the 
hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and there reached its acme. 

While you have doubtless read the vision, and perhaps 
often, I hope you will bear with me for placing it in full 
before you and asking you to read it again, for it certainly 
covers the whole ground of God's operations in establish- 
ing the earth in the incipiency of its eternal existence. 

l^ow my object in much of this work is to show the 
power of the intellect of man, associated with the Spirit of 
God or Truth, recognizing it as the source of all intellect- 
ual reason; but to isolate that ability from its source must 
sooner or later fall helplessly to the ground; so now, when 
all the wise men and scientific?, who knew nothing of the 
Spirit of the true God and its power in the hearts of men, 
but attributed the cause of their ability to themselves alone, 
were called on and signally failed, and were forced to ac- 
knowledge their inability, Daniel comes in to the king 
armed with and depending wholly upon this Spirit of Truth, 
and the king asked him, '^Art thou able to make known 
unto me the dream which T have seen, and the interpreta- 
tion thereof? Now hear the answer of a man who looked 
upon that Spirit of God or Truth within him as the source 
of his intellectual ability, and that he was only intended 
as the machine for its operations, and does not take the 
credit to himself: "Daniel answered in the presence of the 



266 Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 

king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded 
cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the 
soothsayers, shew unto the king; bnt there is *a God in 
heaven that revealeth secrets and maketh known, to the 
king Nebuchadnezzar what shall he in the latter days. Thy 
dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these : 
(As for thee, king, thy thoughts came into thy mind 
upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he 
that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall 
come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed 
to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but 
for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation 
to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts 
of thy heart.) Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great 
image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, 
stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This' 
image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of 
silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, 
his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till 
that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the 
image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake 
them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the 
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became 
like the chaff of the sumomer threshing-floors; and the wind 
carried them away, that no place was found for them: and 
the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, 
and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we wil! 
tell the interpretation thereof before the king." 

I now call your attention to the paragraph in the vision 
stating that the image became as the chaff of the summer 
threshing-floors, and was blown away, and ask that you let 
vour mind revert to what I have said relative to the sink-' 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 267 

ing of the rock and roll beneath the waters of the Euphra- 
tes, which was an actual demonstration before the people 
of the fall of Babylon, which was the heathen world, be- 
yond which they could not see at that age. And in regard 
to the last sentence of the vision, I ask if you do not re- 
member that there had been previously an oath from the 
throne of Omnipotence that all the earth should be filled 
with the glory of Grod? Were not these very mysterious 
declarations to those who lived so far back in the ages of 
the world ? And finally, I appeal to your comimon-sense 
reason, and ask if the veil has not been drawn from before 
us of the present age, so that we can look upon and under- 
stand these things fully as well as the prophets who ut- 
tered them, if not better? Surely we can; and not only 
so, but by the advantages these illustrations afford, we are 
able to look into the future and tell the destiny of nations 
as far beyond. Eaise your mind^s eye, look intelligently at 
the glorious works of your Creator, follow His Spirit of 
Eternal Truth, and scorn the various doctrines and pre- 
cepts of men, which will ever hold you an intellectual 

pigmy. ^ ^ ^ :' i 

1 ask you, upon a careful examination of this vision, 
if it was not a figure of things to be presented in real life 
among human beings on the earth, and not in heaven, nor 
the spiritual dwelling-place of God? Most certainly it was; 
and covers the whole field of operation treated of by the 
entire Scriptures, new or old, from this date of the prophecy 
forward. We must class these acts among material things, 
as we will better understand by the interpretation to King 
Nebuchadnezzar, whose ultimate destiny I do not clearly 
understand, but must say that I can not refrain from look- 
ing upon him with wonder and astonishment, mingled 



268 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

with admiration; and I now proceed to give you the 
interpretation : 

"Thou, king, art a king of kings: for the God of 
heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, 
and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the 
beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he 
given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them 
all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shail arise 
another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third king- 
dom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And 
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as 
iron breaketh in pieces an^ subdueth all things : and as iron 
that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters^ 
clay and pal-t of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but 
there shall be in it of the strength of iron, forasmuch as 
thou sawest the iron mixed with the niiry clay. And as the 
toes of the feet were part iron, and part of clay, so the 
kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And 
whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall 
mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not 
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.^' 

Bear in mind this kingdom of iron when vre come to 
speak of the "'king of fierce countenance,'^ who destroyed 
the holy people and stood up before the Prince of princes. 
T also suggest for your afterthought that it is as impossible 
and inconsistent for the Christian and pagan to cleave to- 
gether and form united strength as for the iron and the 
potters' clay; and it was then the Christian nation began 
to germinate, and did take effect at the feet, of the great 
pagan image. 

I wish you to examine closely the next paragraph of this 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 269 

interpretation. Sift it, turn it, and view it from whatever 
standpoint yon please, and it can not possibly have but the 
one great signification; that is, that the God of heaven did, 
through Jesas as the Christ, set up and establish His king- 
dom as it is to-day; whose foundation is as firm and im- 
mutable as the organic laws of God, the government of 
which is not left to human beings in an organized body, 
but the Creator himself wields the scepter, by His Spirit 
of Truth in the heart of every man who acknowledges His 
power, believing Christ to be the connecting link, enabling 
man to lay hold of that which was to guide his infantile 
intelligence, and lead him to a more perfect knoAvledge of 
God and His operations. And so far is this government 
from ever falling, it is destined to be the one sole govern- 
]nent of the world, before which not only kings, but their 
golden crowns will crumble into dust, and each individual 
cease forever to be responsible to another of his fellow- 
men or their organizations; but each will operate in his 
o^vn sphere, guided ever by that great and eternal principle 
within: at which time, and not until then, can possibly be 
realized the prayer of the Messiah, "Thy will be done in 
earth as it is done in heaven"; and this is why 1 now give 
vent to the feeling which swells my heart, and entreat 
you to take upon yourself the responsibility which God re- 
quires — cease to listen to or be governed by the teaching 
of priest or prelate, but search deeply and diligently in your 
own heart for the great truths which God has written 
there, and follow them regardless of form and ceremony, 
that your actions in his sight may be as pure and innocent 
under cover of the blackest sheet of night as when the sun 
stands the beauty and glory of the day. 

I now give you the paragraph of which we have been 



270 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

speaking: "And in the days of these kings shall the God 
of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: 
and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it 
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and 
it shall stand for ever." 

Let me say here that 'T)reaking in pieces and consum- 
ing all these kingdoms" does not mean the consuming of 
this globe on which we live, neither does it mean to con- 
sume all human beings from off its face, nor can it ration- 
ally be thus construed ; for there is too much evidence else- 
where that supports the more intelligent view of the mat- 
ter, that this earth was the stage of action, and here that 
kingdom was set up. For certainly" no intelligent believer 
in the God of heaven ever doubted His kingdom and gov- 
ernment in the regions of His spiritual dwelling-place:* but 
this was His kingdom set up among human beings; never- 
theless, it was, subsequent to this prophecy, called the ''king- 
dom of heaven'^ because that was and is the supposed 
dwelling-place of this great power relative to the earth, and 
could not consistently be called otherwise : and we see from 
the course of the Scriptures that it was to be set up at the 
time known in the New Testament as the "end of the 
world." Christ was to establish it, which He did, and in 
Hebrews, ch. 9, v. 2Q, it is said emphatically that He came 
"in the end of the world," and we know from the declara- 
tions of Daniel that it is to stand forever, which is also in 
accordance with corrimon-sense reason. 

We will now read the last paragraph; "Forasmuch 
as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain 
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the 
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath 
made known to the king what shall come to pass hereaf- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 271 

ter:'^ [In verse 28 he says, "in the latter days.'^] ^"'and 
the dream is certain, a.nd the interpretation thereof sure/' 
Nebuchadnezzar was convinced, as we see from the follow- 
ing: "The king answered nnto Daniel, and said. Of a truth 
it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, 
and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this 
secret/' 

Xow this dream covers the whole ground of all things 
tha,t are mentioned in the subsequent Scriptures on to the 
end of Eevelation, and most certainly was one of the two 
great lessons, given we may say exclusively for the benefit 
or information of the great king of the earth, IN'ebuchad- 
nezzar. The second lesson is written out in chapter 4; turn 
to it and read it, observing that while the first was forced 
upon his understanding through the mind, the second was 
exerted upon his body; so that by the operation of the 
two there was no room whatever to doubt the power of the 
God of the universe in controlling all things. But this sec- 
ond lesson was first given to him we may say theoretically, 
that he might have the power of everting the practical, by 
giving God the glory for .the great work over which he had 
been placed, instead of taking to himself the glory for the 
achievements, and it was presented to him again in a dream, 
which was interpreted to him by the sam^e man, Daniel, 
who admonished him of his course, and entreated him to 
act righteously lest he suffer the penalty portrayed in his 
dream, which is written out in chapter 4, with the inter- 
pretation as follows : "I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my 
house, and fiourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which 
made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed, and the 
vision of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree 
to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that 



272 Two Thousand Years in Eternitii. 

they might make known unto me the interpretation of the 
dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the 
Chaldeans, and the soothsayers : and I told the- dream be- 
fore them; but they did not make known unto me the in- 
terpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in be- 
fore me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the 
name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy 
gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, Belte- 
shazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the 
spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth 
thee, tell me the vision of my dream that I have seen, and 
the interpretation thereof. Thus were the visions of my 
head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of 
the earth, and the height thereof wg,s great. The tree 
grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto 
heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 
the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, 
and in it was meat for all : the beasts of the field had shadow 
under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the bough:-, 
thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the vision of 
my head upon my bed, and behold, a. watcher and a holy 
one came down from heaven; he cried aloud, and said thus, 
Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his 
leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from 
unjder it, and the fowls from his branches: nevertheless 
lea,ve the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band 
of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let 
it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be 
with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be 
changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto 
him; and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by 
the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word 
of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 273 

that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giv- 
eth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the 
basest of men. This dream I King Nebuchadnezzar have 
seen. Now thou, Belteshazzar, declare the interpreta** 
tion thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my king- 
dom are not able to make known unto me the interpreta- 
tion: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is 
in thee." 

Daniel was then astonished and hesitated; but the 
king_told him to proceed, whereupon Daniel said: *'My 
lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the inter- 
pretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree that thou 
sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached 
unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; 
whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, atnd in 
it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field 
dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven 
had their habitation: it is thou, king, that art grown and 
become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth 
unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 
And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one com- 
ing down from heaven, and saying. Hew the tree down, and 
destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the 
earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender 
grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, 
and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven 
times pass, over him; this is the interpretation, king, and 
this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my 
lord the king: that they shall drive thee from men, and 
thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they 
shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet 
thee with the dew of heaven^ and seven times shall pass 



274 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

over thee, till thou know that the Most High riileth in the 
kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And 
whereas thej commanded to leave the stnmp* of the tree 
roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou 
shalt have known that the heavens do rule. And after all 
this, Daniel admonished him against these evil results, say- 
ing, "Wherefore, king, let my counsel be acceptable unto 
thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine in- 
iquities by showing mercy to the poor ; if it may be a length- 
ening of thy tranquillity/^ 

N'evertheless he persisted in giving himself the praise 
and glory of so great achiveraents; for "At the end of 
twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of 
Babylon. The king spake and said. Is not this great Bab- 
ylon, that / have built for the house of the kingdom by 
the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? 
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice 
from heaven, saying, King ISTebuchadnezzar, to thee it 
is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they 
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with 
the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as 
oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know 
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour wa/s the 
thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven 
from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet 
with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like 
eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at 
the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes 
unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, 
and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored 
him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 275 

dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to genera- 
tion. And, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as 
nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of 
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none 
can stay his hamd, or say nnto him, What doest thou? At 
the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the 
glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness returned 
unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; 
and I was established in my kingdom and excellent majesty 
was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and ex- 
tol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are truth, 
and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is 
able to abase." 

You see very clearly from the preceding that by the 
first lesson Nebuchadnezzar's intellectual reason was con- 
vinced of a superior Power, but, like many men of the pres- 
ent day, he would not or did not understand the necessity 
and justice in giving that superior Fower all the glory for 
his achievements; but persisted in thinking that he had 
done the great work by his own majesty ajnd power, until 
his physical being was chastised and afflicted, and then he 
could realize that the unseen God of heaven controlled all 
things, and would also most certainly govern, him: punish- 
ing him for evil and rewarding him for good, as it is to- 
day: and then it was he extolled the King of heaven, wor- 
shiped the God of the universe, and gave Him all the glory ; 
and this is what God intends all human beings on the face 
of the earth to do, and those who disbelieve, and refuse so 
to do, must and Avill perish forever; and this course is so 
plain and simple to men of the Christian nation that truly 
a fool need not be mistaken in his duties to God. 

When King Nebuchadnezzar walked in his palace and 



276 Two Tlwusand Years in Eternity. ^ 

looked over the immense work accomplished in bringing 
the whole world in subjection to his rule and gQvernment, 
and attributing it all to his own strength and intellectual 
ability, instead of recognizing the power of God which was 
exercised on his mind, the magnitude of the achievements 
caused his reason to be dethroned, and he at once became 
demented; in and on account of which condition he was 
driven from the presence and company of human beings, 
and thus remained for seven years. And this was the man- 
ner in which his kingdom was taken from him, as was de- 
clared by the mouth of the prophet Daniel. 

Now before turning to the visions of Daniel, I wish to 
call your attention to one more circumstance recorded in 
chapter 6, which occurred during the reign of King Darius, 
by whom Daniel was much esteemed, and caused jealousy 
to arise among the princes of the nations, who sought to 
have him killed, which resulted in Daniel being cast into the 
den of lions. This was very grievous to King Darius> for he 
had respect for the God of Daniel; and when he realized 
the power of that God to protect Daniel from the beasts, 
the king was convinced, and gave Him the glory, and wrote 
"unto all the people, nations, and languages that dwell in 
all the earth,^^ and made a decree as follows: "That in 
every dominion of m}^ Ivingdom men tremble and fear be- 
fore the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stead- 
fast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be de- 
stroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He 
delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders 
in., heaven and in eatrth, who hath delivered Daniel from 
the power of the lions.^^ You see that about this age be- 
gan to germinate among the heathen an idea that there 
was a- Power greater than the gods of the earth, and ^- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 277 

though it existed in an unintelligible manner to the da3^s 
when the Spirit of God was poured out upon the human 
family at the coming of the Messiah, it did disturb the 
peace and quiet of the nations of the earth, and was tha 
fire which Clirist said He came to bring upon the earth, and 
continued to burn and increase until the two great powers 
were tested by being brought together in deadly combat, at 
which time brutality received its death-wound, and was suc- 
ceeded by intellectuality; and at the present day man is 
but beginning to understand in a slight degree that the 
Spirit of God, or Spirit of Truth, in all of its bearings upon 
the ordinary transactions of everyday life, is really the 
mighty hand of polished steel clad in a silk and downy 
glove of most exquisite hue. 

Let us turn now to chapter 7, amd examine the vision 
of Daniel upon this same and all-important subject, which 
is the judgment of the great day of God Almighty, and 
we see that each succeeding description is a little more 
vivid and definite; and while I insist on you reading care- 
fully the entire vision and description of the beasts which 
he saw, which were the world under different rulers prior 
to the great struggle with Gog and the establishing of the 
kingdom of God by the Messiah, we will also see plainly in 
these visions who was the Antichrist, and when He arose 
whom the apostles were looking for just before the "judg- 
ment day^^; and in reading these revelations of Daniel care- 
fully, you will certainly be convinced that the judgment has 
long since been executed and that we have no cause to look 
for another. We now proceed to give the important parts of 
his vision, which he had during the first year of the reign 
of Belshazzar, and he said the four winds of heaven 
strove upon the sea, and four great beasts came up from 



278 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the sea, which differed one from another; the first was like 
a lion, and had eagle's wings; the second was like a bear; 
the third was like a leopard, and had fonr wings and four 
heads, and dominion was given it; and I would have you 
remember this beast when we come to examine the subse- 
quent vision of Daniel, where these heads are represented 
by four horns. Then said he: "After this I saw in the 
night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and ter- 
rible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: 
it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue 
with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts 
that were before it; and it had ten horns/' Please refer in 
your mind to the kingdom of iron, or the iron legs of the 
great image seen in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, which is 
the same as this. And now comes the Antichrist. "I con- 
sidered the horns, and behold, there ca^me up among them 
another little horn, before whom there w^re three of the 
first horns plucked up by the roots : and behold in this horn 
were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great 
things." Now all of the future Scriptures show conclu- 
sively that this horn was to stand up before and against the 
Messiah, for this is the Antichrist, and the name itself ex- 
presses the same; and he did have great power and intel- 
lectual ability. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, 
and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white 
as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his 
throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning 
fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before 
him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten 
thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judg- 
ment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then 
because of the voice of the great words which the horn 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 279 

spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body 
destroyed, a.nd given to the bnrning flame. As concerning 
the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken 
away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of 
man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the 
Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 
dom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve 
him : his doininion is an everlasting dominion, which shall 
not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
destroyed." 

The foregoing is the vision; and Daniel gives the inter- 
pretation, and it is certainly plain enough to any one who 
has studied the Scriptures, that it refers to the terrific 
scenes that were enacted in the latter days of the second 
world, and the establishing of the kingdom of God by the 
Messiah as it is to-day. But I would have you remember and 
know that these four beasts are four stages of the earth 
under the rule of certain kings, and that the slaying of the 
beast was unquestionably the destroying of the world, to 
give rise to the reign of God in the hearts of a Christian 
people, which was also shown by Seraiah at Babylon when 
he cast the rock and roll into the Euphrates; and the last 
beast seen by Daniel is the beast spoken of as slain, and the 
most important matter connected with the events of the 
history of this beast is the rise of the Antichrist mani- 
fested by the notable little horn, whose cruel and horrible 
conduct toward the Christian people was prophesied and 
looked for by the apostles and disciples of Christ; who con- 
stantly dreaded its coming and they expected the end of 
the world soon after the Antichrist made His appearance; 



280 Two Thousand Years in Mterniiy. 

and for this reason we ask that you watch closely in this 
investigation, that you may be satisfied that his rise and 
downfall occurred in the far past, and will be no more, as 
as we will see more clearly as we proceed further in the 
examination of the visions of Daniel. I now give the inter- 
pretation of the preceding: 

"I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my 
body, and the vision of my head troubled me. I came near 
unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of 
all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpre- 
tation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, 
are four kings, which shall airise out of the earth. But the 
saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and pos- 
sess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.'' This, 
you see, is a brief interpretation of the whole matter; but 
it does not satisfy Daniel ; and he asks more definitely of the 
fourth beast, and says: "Then I would know the truth of 
the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, ex- 
ceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of 
brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the 
residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in 
his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom 
three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth 
that spake very great things, whose look was more stout 
than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war 
with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the An- 
cient of daj^s came, and judgment was given to the saints 
of tbe Most High; and the time came that the saints pos- 
sessed the kingdom. Thus he said. The fourth beast shall 
be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shaJl be diverse 
from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and 
shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten 



Two Thousand Yeais in Bterniiy. 281 

horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: 
and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse 
from the "first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he 
shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall 
wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change 
times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand un- 
til a time and times and the dividing of time/^ [Which we 
shall see further on means one thousand two hundred and 
sixty days, which was just prior to the time when the ter- 
rible slaughter began, and was the time of the persecution 
of the saints spoken of by Christ and His apostles.] "But 
the judgment shall sit, and the}^ shall take away his domin- 
ion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. And the king- 
dom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom un- 
der the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the 
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 
Hitherto is the end of the maitter.'^ 

It is a very easy matter to distinguish the Antichrist 
in this vision, and he is the desperate character who was to 
set up the "abomination of desolation" in the Temple; and 
spoken of all through the subsequent Scriptures as the one 
whose cajeer was to immediately precede the destruction 
or judgment of the "great day of God Almighty"; and 
while Daniel has given the subject-matter of all the Script- 
ures as it passed in panoramic view before him in this vis- 
ion, and it seems plain enough for any one to understand 
who has carefully read the Word, yet he gives a more defi- 
nite account of this Antichrist, as he was shown in a sub- 
sequent vision, which we will proceed to examine. And as 
these visions are all synonymous in substance, only differ- 
ing in detail as the time approaches, and the visions are 



^82 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

made more vivid to Daniel, we will at once turn to the sec- 
ond vision of this noble man in the next chapter, which he 
saw in the palace at Shnshan in the province of Elam, the 
third year of the reign of Belshazzar. This was the vis- 
ion of the ram and he-goat, and was presented to Daniel 
about three or four years after the first: and in reading it, 
I wish you to iiotice carefully for the rise of this notable 
horn, and about what period he came in power, and per- 
haps the nation from which he sprang; and in thus observ- 
ing you will be left with but little if any doubt that all 
things have been fulfilled. "And I saw in a vision; and it 
came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in' the pal- 
ace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vis- 
ion, and I was by the river of Ulai. Then I lifted up mine 
eyes, and saw, and behold there stood before the river a 
ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high;'' 
[Please ipiagine yourself in a dream.] "but one was higher 
than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the 
ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so 
that no beast might stand before him, neither was there 
any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did accord- 
ing to his will, and became great. And as I was consid- 
ering, behold, a he-goat came from the west on the face of 
the whole earth,. and touched not the ground: and the goat 
had a notable horn between his e}es. . And he came to the 
ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before 
the river, and ran unto him. in the fury of his power. And 
I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with 
choler against ?iim, and smote the ram, and brake his two 
horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before 
him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped 
upon him, and there was none that could deliver the ram 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 28B 

out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: 
and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and 
for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds 
of heaven, xind out of one of them came forth a little horn, 
which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward 
the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, 
even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the 
host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon 
them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the 
host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and 
the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And a host was 
given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of trans- 
gression, a:nd it cast down the truth to the ground; and it 
practiced, and prospered. Then I heard one saint speak- 
ing, and another saint said unto that certain saint which 
spake. How long shall be the vision concerning the daily 
sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both 
the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And 
he said unto me. Unto two thousand and three hundred 
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.'^ This perhaps 
was the entire time of the reign of the Antichrist, but from 
the time he took away the daily sacrifice to the end of time, 
when the slaughter began, was one thousand two hundred 
and sixty days, which was one-half of the last week of time, 
and during that three years and six months the followers 
of the true and living God were sorely tried in the furnace 
of torture by this hideous brute, who tried to show to the 
world that he was God, amd break down the Christian na- 
tion, which was then only in its infancy. But we will pro- 
ceed to give the interpretation as it was given to Daniel by 
the angel Gabriel, who stood by the river TJlai, representing 
one of the cherubims, and tells Daniel that the vision was 



284 Two Thousand Tears in Mternity. 

relative to events in the end of the world, which could not 
possibly be otherwise than the end of this second period of 
man on the earth, which I have already described; and you 
will understand more clearly as we proceed with the in- 
terpretation : 

"And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen 
the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there 
stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard 
a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and 
said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So 
he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was 
afraid, and fell upon my face : but he said unto me. Under- 
stand, son of man : for at the . time of the end shall be 
the vision. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a 
deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched 
me, and set me upright. And he said. Behold, I will make 
thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: 
for at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which 
thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and 
Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and 
the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 
Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four 
kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his 
power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the 
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce counte- 
nance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 
And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: 
and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and 
practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy peo- 
ple. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to 
prosper in his hand ; and he shall magnify himself in his 
heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 285 

up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken 
without haaids. And the vision of the evening and the 
morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up 
the vision: for it shall be for many days/' 

Now no one can gainsay or even doubt that this vis- 
ion was pertaining to events of the end of the world iii its 
then condition at which time this Christian nation was be- 
ing tried^ and established in its eternal existence^ and the 
nations destroyed to give rise to it; and we do know that 
the prophet was speaking of things that have already trans- 
pired hundreds of years in the past. The war with the 
Modes and Persians on the one side and Greece on the other 
has long since been fought, and it was during those strug- 
gles the Antichrist rose up in power, and there can be but 
the slightest doubt that he was a Greek; and while we do 
not know his name, and never will perhaps, yet the num- 
ber of his name was six hundred and sixty-six. I know not 
how or from what date this name was calculated, and it is 
altogether immaterial with us ; but the learned men of that 
age could have calculated the time and number of kings, 
and recognized him early in his career; but the time is 
gone: the calculation was not for us, and I rejoice that he 
with his heinous acts have been consumed in the flames 
of God Almighty's wrath many hundred years ago, and 
that to-day the Christian nations are a free people, not 
fettered by heathen oppression: but each one is allowed to 
be governed by the Spirit of G od in his OAvn heart, and no 
one living has the right to dictate the course of another or 
judge his action; and I thank God to-day, that this king- 
dom and rule will never be abolished, and will stand for ever, 
spread over the whole earth — exterminate the heathen, and 
do away with stupid and ignorant organizations which still 



286 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

hold to form and ceremoiw as the service of an intelligent 
— ^yea, omniscient, allwise God. 

Before closing this chapter, I will give you Daniers 
declaration as to the effect of this vision on himself. He 
said: '^'I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; after- 
ward^ I rose up, and did the king's business; ajid I was as- 
tonished at the vision, hut none understood it.^' And now 
I will leave you for a time to your own quiet reflections, 
as to the terror of the scene that passed in review before 
this great and good man: and he was told to shut up the 
vision, for it would be a long time in the future till those 
scenes would be enacted, and it was doubtless between six 
hundred and seven hundred years; but John was told not 
to close them up when he saw them, for the time had then 
come for the work to begin. 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 287 



CHAPTER XIV. 

I'rophecy of Daniel — Continued. 

As we are about to begin an investigation of the time 
given by Daniel in which this entire work was to be com- 
pleted, the indignation cdase, and peace be restored to the 
saints, that they might rest from their horrible persecutions, 
I most respectfully ask, in the name of the present genera- 
tion, that yon rid yonr mind of prejudice, free yourself from 
the fetters of former teaching, and by the aid of the Spirit 
of Truth examine carefully with me all of the direct and 
corroborative testimony and the entire chain of evidence 
bearing on this subject. Let no honest conviction be smoth- 
ered in your breast by the fear of being submerged in a 
disastrous complication of things real and things you have 
hitherto supposed to be. No matter how complex, dark, 
or appalling the trackless- forest you may find just ahead 
of you, throw yourself upon the arm of that living God 
whom you ^vorsliip, trust His power in reality, and know 
that the thread of His Eternal Truth, which may lead you 
into so fearful a tempest of conflicting elements, will also 
as certainly bring you out again upon the high and deco- 
rated road of intelligence, beueath the sunshine and smiles 
of a satisfied God. Take the Word of God through the holy 
prophets, and do not cast about among fallible mortals 
who have lived since their day for the evidence on which 
you base your belief. Calculate the time by the method 
given to the prophets, and determine for yourself whether 



288 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

or not the great work has been accomplished within the 
given limits. 

The entire time necessary or determined by- the God 
of heaven to bring His people out of the furnace of refin- 
ing, properly cleansed, educated, and fitted for His nse in 
establishing the earth under His own rule, is given in the 
ninth chapter by this much-respected prophet. But to un- 
derstand the system by which this time was computed when 
spoken of in its entiret}", we must turn a moment to Eze- 
kiel, chapter 4, and here we find the time to bear tlie ini- 
quities of Israel given in days, and each day to represent a 
year; and hence on this particular subject we must deter- 
mine the number of days for years, and this method seems 
only to be used in speaking of the entire time, since cer- 
tain portions of the work were accomplished within the lim- 
its of a more definite time. I arrive at this conclusion by 
comparing the time given by different prophets for the exe- 
cution of the same work. 

We see that the time given to Ezekiel to beair the ini- 
quities of Tsraiel is three hundred and ninety days, and for 
Judah forty days, which, added, make four hundred and 
thirty days, and really mean four hundred and thirty years 
from some certadn date ; and Daniel gives the dates and time 
. more definitely in chapter 9, to which we now refer. But 
before proceeding I wish to say plainly (if I have not be- 
fore) that I do not propose the dates and time given by the 
God of heaven for these events to coincide with the dates 
given in profane history upon which our present system of 
chronology is based; and while you may have hitherto re- 
jected the former because it did not agree with the la^tter, 
T most certainly hold the latter to be incorrect because it 
does not agree with the former. With due defei'ence to 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 289 

science and its wonderful developments, our common rea- 
son teaches ns that we must on some occasions lay aside its 
supremacy and question its truth. Think for a moment, 
that while a year comprising the four seasons was the same 
then that it is to-day, how exceeding improbable, if not im- 
possible, to keep a correct record of them as they passed, 
and hand it down through the Dark Ages to us. No! I can 
never base any of my belief in the operations of God on a 
system so fallible. Pause and reason with yourself; de- 
termine the available influence of conflicting declarations 
of historians, to decide your position relative to what God 
has declared should be. Had you not better take His word 
to. the end, and determine by the present real condition of 
all things the question. Have they been done as was pro- 
claimed from the throne? Decide this matter for yourself, 
and with the Master, so that the wranglings and disputa- 
tions of the designing world may no more harass you. 

In the first year of the reign of Darius, Daniel said: 
"I understood by books the number of the years whereof 
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that 
he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of 
Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek 
by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, 
and ashes.^^ And Daniel prayed and supplicated the Lord 
God to know of course, and to understand if possible, what 
disposition was to be made of his people, when and how 
they were to be delivered, and restored to peace under the 
government of their God: and without doubt expected 
nothing more than that they should again enjoy the priv- 
ileges granted under the old Mosaic law; not understanding 
the manner of operation of the new covenant that God in- 
tewded to make vith man, according to which His laws were 



290 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

written in the heart of each individual; nor did he thor- 
oughly understand the result of God's operations as shown 
in the vision. But you will please read his prayer and ob- 
serve in the latter part, while he was yet speaking, that the 
same angel Gabriel touched him and talked with him about 
the time of the evening oblation, and said: "0 Daniel, 
I aan now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 
At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment 
came forth, and I am come to show thee ; for thou art great- 
ly beloved: therefore understand the matter and consider 
the vision." 

Now Israel and Judah were at this time in bondage un- 
der heathen kings of every nation over the entire world, 
and Jeremiah had prophesied this bondage before the fall 
of Jerusalem, as well as the destruction of the nations of 
the earth, and his prophecies were written down, and of the 
greatest import and interest to all who read or thought 
upon the subject of the world's destiny, and it was of most 
interest to know what was to become of the Jews and all 
Israel, as they had been called the people of God, and much 
had been said and written about them; and it seems that 
the writings of Jeremiah were looked upon as very reliable, 
and he had written out very definitely not only the destiny 
of the Jews, but all the nations of the earth, and what Dan- 
iel refers to is found in the twenty-fifth chapter, which I 
have given you on former pages of this work, but I here 
repeat what he said of the Jews and some other nations. 
Said he: "This whole land shall be a desolation, and an 
astonishment: and these naitions shall serve the king of 
Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass when 
seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king 
of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their ini- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 291 

quity, and the land of the Chaldeams, and will make it per- 
petual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my 
words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is 
written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied 
against all the n.a,tioi)s. 

N'ow to Jeremiah was revealed the length of time the 
Jews should remain in bondage scattered among the na- 
tions of the earth, which was seventy years, at the expira- 
tion of which time they were to be brought back to Jeru- 
h^alem and live to themselves, but subject to the rule of 
heathen powers, and then began to crumble the strength 
of the Babylonish empire. But the visions of Daniel indi- 
cated to him that a greater work was to be accomplished, 
which he did not understand, and which we now very clear- 
ly understand meant the coming of the Messiah, the con- 
version of both the Jew and Gentile or heathen to Chris- 
tianity, or a knowledge of the true and living God through 
the instrumentality of Christ — the Holy One of Israel, the 
great destruction of the heathen nations of the world, and 
the liberty and establishing of the Christian nation as we 
see it to-day; and this is what Gabriel explained to Daniel, 
and we v/ill examine this explanation in detail as we give 
the quotation. 

^'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and 
upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make 
an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and 
to bring in everlasting righteousess, and to seal up the vis- 
ion and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." 

There is a volume contained in this verse. It covers 
the whole ground of important events spoken of in all the 
future of the Scriptures, and the time given in which the 
entire work was to be completed is seventy weeks. Now 



292 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

this seventy weeks are seventy times seven days, or four 
hundred and ninety days, which, according to the instruc- 
tion to Ezekiel, are four hundred and ninety years, or a 
year for every day; and this is wholly correct, as we shall 
see upon an examination of the last verse of this chapter. 
But the time given to Ezekiel to hear the iniquity of Israel 
and Judah was four hundred and thirty days, representing 
as many years, which prohahly extended to the fall of Bab- 
ylon; at which time the yoke of Israel was virtually broken, 
as we have spoken previously; and we see a difference of 
sixty years, though there was much yet to be done. But as 
we do not know the date of beginning of the time given 
Ezekiel, and it makes no material difference in the ques- 
tion we wish to determine, we will pass on to the purposes 
accomplished. Mark the language and let us briefly review 
the work. The prophet said, "To finish the transgression.'' 
Since I have spoken so much heretofore of this terrible 
day of reckoning, and why it became necessary in the econ- 
omy of God, I shall be as brief as possible; and on this par- 
ticular part of the subject will simply say, that as Israel 
would not be an example of God's kindness and merciful 
protection, they should be of His power to punish and de- 
stroy evil, and hence they were sent among the heathen, 
and it was said that they should be a curse to the nations 
among whom they went. God having determined to use 
them for His own name's glory. His object was accom- 
plished through their transgression, and no doubt was to 
Bome extent brought about by their professed knowledge of 
the true and living God and the influence they really though 
unwittingly exerted in arraying the powers of the earth 
against the God of heaven, which He evidently desired, and 
intended should reach its fullest ^nd ripest stage under th.Q 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. *^93 

head of heathenism: and until then the work of the trans- 
gression was not complete. 

Again he said, "And to make an end of sins." You 
will please revert to a former statement, that all operations 
of God at this age were national, and I now remind you that 
the great sin of the nations of the earth was to forget the 
God who created them for His own purposes, and how down 
before stocks and stones, accrediting all power to them. 
This God said was "'giving His glory to another, and His 
praise to graven images"; which we can very clearly see 
from the very nature of all things, that He could not pos- 
sibly tolerate : and it was during the days of "His visitation" 
that idolatry received its deaith-stroke ; and to-day the power 
of national heathenism over the intellectual, God-fearing 
nations is forever broken. Nevertheless there are yet 
heathen nations upon the earth, who shall (as I endeavored 
to show you in the book of Isaiah) for ever perish and be 
consumed from off its face ; and hence in this consumption 
the sin of the world was destroyed, and an end made, for 
idolatry must and will continue to recede. 

The next thing said was, "To make reconciliation for 
iniquity." Now, in the latter part of chapter 5 of 2 Corin- 
thians it is stated that "God was in Christ reconciling the 
world unto himself," and shows thait the apostles were 
charged with the teaching of the word of reconciliation, which 
was the gospel of Christ, and it was preached to every creat- 
ure on the earth preparatory for the "great day of God 
Almighty," which was to satisfy the reasoning minds of 
men that Jesus was the Christ, and mediator between them 
and God; that they would be able, in the days of persecu- 
tion and death, to trust implicitly the power of His Spirit 
to save,, and be wholly changed from their former belief 



294 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

in the power of the gods of the earth. In other words, it 
wa,s intended and absohitely necessary that man have an 
intelligent knowledge of the God who made him, in order 
that he be a good and efficient agent to carry out the pur- 
poses of the Creator; and when mian's natural developments 
produced in him sufficient strength of intellectual reason- 
ing to enable him to comprehend a spiritual or unseen 
power, and thereby become dissatisfied with the stupid idea 
he had^ hitherto entertained of all power existing in a 
creature, or even inert matter, then the Gcd of heaven in- 
troduced Himself through Jesus, and began the work of 
teaching men that the Spirit was the real power in all or- 
ganized matter, and that He was the author of it. And to 
prove this, that man might be perfectly reconciled in this 
new belief, prophecy was written out ages before the period 
arrived, and Christ ratified it by example, even to His 
(ieath on the cross. Subsequent to this the two great pow- 
ers were tested in the presence of those who had accepted 
this new system, which resulted in a -disastrous defeat of 
the physical, and ai most glorious triumph of the spiritual, 
and really broke down the powers that might have been set 
up to its subsequent detriment. 

Then it was that God^s law of right and wrong, justice 
and injustice, truth and falsehood, which had been hitherto 
taught, and dealt out to the common people by those who 
were placed over them, was written in each individual's 
heart; and while it was then quite sufficient under all cir- 
cumstances to teach man his duty to God, however ignor- 
ant he yet was, it is so peculiarly arranged as to grow with 
man's intellect and adapt itself to the proper government 
of the most highly educated and polished mind. And now 
since righteousness is nothing more nor less, however, than 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 295 

right in the sight of God according to His law in our hearts, 
'^everlasting righteousness'' was thus hrought in, which 
never could have existed under the old system, but now 
never can be erased from the knowledge of man. 

The next thing mentioned in this verse is, "To seal 
up the vision and prophecy/' This seems to me a most 
transparent part of the subject, and needs but little com- 
ment; nevertheless the beautiful and systematic arrange- 
ment of these various features in the great work of the 
Master demand that we try to show their relation. 

You will please bear in mind the immediate foregoing 
statements relative to man's intellectual condition at this 
important period, and then you can easily look back and 
see that at no time earlier thaai this could God entrust the 
execution of His designs wholly to the very small mental 
development, and consequent tender growth of intellect, 
guided simply and solely by the operation of His Spirit of 
Truth within; and hence it was necessary hitherto to make 
Himself and His commands intelligible to man in soin6 
more direct way. Therefore we see in the early part of this 
second great period subsequent to the flood, when man could 
begin to reason slightly upon some subjects, aided by vis- 
ible and tangible things, and could do the work of God by 
pattern, the vision was introduced: prophecy was also writ- 
ten out and recorded as food for the mind, which, when 
verified or fulfilled, did absolutely establish a knowledge of 
God's omniscience; and this certainly is the pillar of beauty 
in man's individual temple of intellect. 

But before closing this part of the subject (seeing that 
much might be written to develop the matter fully, and 
that it is necessary to be brief as possible, I endeavor to 
speak only of those things really necessary to make my 



296 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ideas clear), I must call 5'Our attention again to the blind- 
ing of the Jews and sealing np of the book as spoken of 
by Isaiah (ch. 29). We have viewed that on former pages 
of this work; but as you cam now see it better from this 
standpont;, 1 respectfully ask that you turn for a moment 
and look again. It is clear that the repeated violation of 
God^s laws given by Moses, and the disastrous influence 
of heathen intercourse, had so distorted the tender facul- 
ties of the mind of Israel as a nation that it was no longer 
possible for them to understand the vision or accept the 
words of the true prophets of God: and hence the vision 
became to all ^'as a book that Avas sealed," for God did 
change His course with Israel, though the vision continued 
to this great day of God Almighty, to which all who be- 
lieved in the God of heaven constantly looked; and because 
of this great change, the vision was indeed in many re- 
spects mysterious to the most learned, in which fact Daniel 
iiimself will bear me out. And this is the book which, be- 
ing sealed by the seven spirits that operate upon man in his 
natural state, was opened by the Lion of the tribe of Ju- 
dah; and when these last predicted works confirmed man 
in an intellectual knowledge of God, the eternal knowledge 
of justice and Spirit of Truth was planted in the hearts 
of men for their government, which being quite sufficient 
thenceforth, the vision and prophecy was and is forever 
sealed up; and miracles were also dispensed with. 

Now, as to the anointing of the Most Holy, it certainly 
means the anointing of Jesus mth the Spirit of God, at 
the beginning of His ministry, or when He was baptized, 
and hence we must date the coming of the Messiah a,t that 
particular time. We know not the exact order in which 
these events follow, but we have every reason to believe — 



Two TJiousand Years in Eternity, 297 

indeed, I see no room; to doubt that the anointing does 
mean the ponring out of the Spirit of God upon Him, since 
the Scriptures speak of such as an "anointing"; although 
He was anointed for His burial with a precious ointment. 
We also know that the vision and prophecy were not sealed 
up till after the days of Christ on earth, for John's vision 
on the isle was as important as any previous manifestations; 
and some things were known only prophetically in the earl- 
ier days of the apostles, for Paul said, "We know in part, 
and we prophesy in part," because the prophecies were not 
all fulfilled till the time of the end, and hence the work 
was not yet perfect. T conclude, therefore, that the vision 
and prophecy were sealed up subsequent to the anointing, 
and that the anointing was the bestowal of the Spirit of 
the Father on Jesus, and consequent power to perform His 
work, even as John in his iirst Epistle, chapter 2, speaks to 
the disciples and all believers in Christ being anointed by 
Him, and in his admonitions against seductive teachers re- 
minds them that they now have the power to understand 
for themselves, and said: "But the anointing which ye 
have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that 
any man teach you." This also is strictly according to the 
new covenant spoken of by the prophets, and is the con- 
dition of the believers in the true and living God to-day. 
I feel very much inclined at this point to say m^ore rel- 
ative to the blinding of the Jews, as it is a very proper 
place to explain Christ's teaching by parable, not wanting 
the Jews healed under the old system of the Mosaic law, 
the meaning of the new birth, and other matters connected 
with this beautiful subject. But I must return to the orig- 
inal purpose of this chapter, contenting myself with the 



298 Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

hope that time and opportunity will enable me to say more 
in the future. 

We will now consider the next two verses (25 and 2(j), 
which read as follows: "Know therefore and understand, 
tliai from the going forth of the commandment to restore 
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall 
be seven weeks and chreescore and two weeks: the street 
shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 
Kndi after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut 
off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that 
shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and 
the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of 
the war desolations are determined." 

You will observe in the beginning of this quotation the 
language is very positive and pointed, that the date is to 
begin at the time of ihe command to restore and build 
Jerusalem, and from that date to the coming of the Mes- 
siah shall be sixty-nine weeks, or sixty-nine times seven 
d^ys, which make four hundred and eighty-three days, rep- 
resenting as many years. As I have said before, T have no 
confidence in our system of chronology being exact, and in 
many instances may be wide of the mark; but I will men- 
tion here, that according to Archbishop Usher's calculation 
the time from the proclamation by Cyrus, king of Persia, to 
build the Temple to the birth of Jesus was five hundred 
and thirty-six years : making a difference of fifty-three 
years; but to calculate the time to the beginning of His 
ministry, which is most proper, would make yet greater 
discrepancy. But from the time Artaxerxes sent l^ehemiah 
to build the walls of Jerusalem to the birth of Jesus was 
four hundred and forty-five years; to this add thirty years, 
bringing us up to the time His ministry began, and we 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 299 

have four hundred and seventy-five, which leaves us still 
short eight years. This difference, however, by making 
some admissabie allowance, could be lessened; biit, as I 
place no confidence in these dates being any more than ap- 
proximately correct at best, we will try no further to make 
them agree. But since the God of heaven adopted this sys- 
tem of calculating the time, and other prophecies by the 
same individuals proved themselves to be correct, together 
with strong evidence that this also has done the same, 1 
must conclude that this is correct as given by the prophet, 
and that our chronology is wrong, and there is not a shadow 
of doubt in my mind in regard to this matter. 

The next statement was, that "after threescore and 
two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. "Now I must infer 
that this period dates either from the completion of the 
Temple or the building of the streets and walls of the city. 
But we must remember that these periods given to Daniel 
were for the benefit of those who lived in that day and 
knew the dates, and therefore understood the manner of 
making the calculation near enough to convince them, 
when the Messiah did come, thai this was a revelation from 
God: and in its reverse operation, strengthen their belief 
that He was the one looked for. We at this age have bet- 
ter evidence, by real, existing things, that He has come, 
and that the entire work has been done, the greatest strug-* 
gle in the contest between the two conflicting powers, of 
heaven and earth has been decided in ages past; and to-day 
we see the one is established and growing with thrifty suc- 
cess; while the other does and must forever recede, and be 
obliterated from the face of the earth. But to return to 
the subject: I must say that we know not from what time 
to date the beginning of this period exactly; we are at a 



300 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

loss to know certainly what exact relative time the Temple 
was finished, though we are assured in the body of the 
Scriptures that it was forty-six years building; and this you 
Avill find in St. John, ch. 2, v. 20, which you will please re- 
member, since we can only be governed by what is actually 
written and found in the book ; and as for the time the 
walls and streets were completed, we would at best have to 
reckon from a very feeble standpoint, since Nehemiah said 
that the houses of the city were not builded when he fin- 
ished the walls and set up the doors. Therefore at that 
date Jerusalem was not fully restored and built, and we 
could not with any certainty or satisfaction then date the 
beginning of this period, nor do we know when this part of 
the work was complete : or, in other words, we do not know 
when they at that age looked upon Jerusalem as "restored 
and built" ; therefore we let this part of the matter rest. 

N'ow while the dates given in our chronology and the 
time do not agree with the time given by Daniel, I wish to 
call your attention to a coincidence in the prophet's time 
shown in the verse before us, in speaking of the time the 
Messiah should come and when He should be cut off. 

I hope you will agree without argument that the com- 
ing of the Messiah could not consistently date at the birth 
of Jesus, though some looked upon Him as the coming 
Christ. John the Baptist even spoke of Him as one to 
come, although they were both the same age. I shall there- 
fore not encumber your mind with evidence to prove a 
thing so conclusive in itself: that the coming of the Mes- 
siah dated at the baptism of Jesus, or the beginning of His 
ministry. We also know that three years thereafter He 
was crucified for or on account of the transgressions of 
Israel. ISTow, by referring to the above-mentioned verses, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 301 

we find the time given for His coming to be seven weeks 
and sixty-two weeks^ or sixty-nine weeks from a certain time 
mentioned; and the time from a certain other date, after 
which He should be cut off, is sixty-two weeks, marking a 
difference of seven weeks, or forty-nine days, which are 
forty-nine years: and you will see at once that forty-six 
years, the time required in building the Temple, and the 
three years of His ministry make up this difference of seven 
weeks, and the time given by Daniel harmonizes in itself 
as nicely as possible or could be asked even by the fastid- 
ious, being expressed in weeks, when we take into consid- 
eration that the foundation of the Temple was not laid for 
nearly three years after the proclamation was issued; and 
it shows conclusively that these times and events were 
dated respectively at the issuing of the proclamation by 
King Cyrus and the completion of the Temple by Zerubba- 
bel. And hence, if there be any truth in prophecy at all, 
this is one, and a profound truth, for it carries with it a 
mathematical demonstration. I now make this statement 
by my understanding of times, dates, and events given in 
the Scripture, which can never be changed by modern 
chronologists : that the man Jesus, Who became the Christ, 
crucified just sixty- two weeks or four hundred and thirt}''- 
four years after the second Temple was completed by Ze- 
rubbabel. And this is strong support to this system in 
computing the time of other important events looked for 
during the latter days of this second great period. 

I wivsh to say, before we proceed further, as I have al- 
ready intimated, that this method of counting time, so far 
as I have observed, has only been used in speaking in a 
general way of the time necessary to free Israel, or the 
people of God, from the oppression of heathenism, and es* 



302 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

tablish their liberty under the government of His Spirit, 
except in speaking of events that should transpire requir- 
ing a time less than one week or seven years for their com- 
pletion. In such cases the time is given in months, or days, 
and in some places, instead of using the word "year" as we 
do to-day when speaking of that period, they used the word 
"time," and it is never used in speaking of a period of seven 
years or over in connection with this subject; which I de- 
termine by observing that different individuals, when speak- 
ing of the same event, the one giving the time in montlis 
or days and the other in "times," mean one and the same 
thing, and coincide according to the above statement. In 
support of this, as well as that you may have a better un- 
derstanding of my views of this important subject, I call 
your attention to the fact that this term is mainly used in 
speaking of the events that were to occur during the sev- 
entieth or last week of this time given by Daniel, and in 
the instance of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom being taken 
from him "until seven times pass over," and perhaps one 
or two other places where it is used indicate that it could 
not reasonably be construed to mean more nor less than 
one year, which is exactly ivliat it does mean. But we will 
see its use in looking over this last week's work, which 
doubtless was the most terrific and bloody period in the 
entire age of the world, though it stand forever; for it was 
unquestionably the great day of God Almighty, or fearful 
end spoken of throughout the Scriptures; and no matter 
where its beginning dates, most certainly and unquestion- 
ably its termination is simultaneous with that of the old 
world, or age of the Word of God, and was imir.ediataly fol- 
lowed by a new heaven and a new earth. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 303 



CHAPTER XV. 

Prophecy of Daniel, — Concluded. 

Now lot US read the last verse of this chapter (9). that 
we may know what is here declared should be done during 
this last week of time; and I mean what I have /ws^ said, 
for eternity immediately followed. And when we examine 
the whole future of the Scriptures, we must and will find 
them to fully harmonize with this verse. 

*'And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one 
week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sac- 
rifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading 
of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the 
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon 
the desolate.^' 

That you may fully understand who it is to execute 
this vile and wicked work of seven years, I refer you first 
to the preceding verse, which says, after the death of the 
Messiah, that the people of the prince that shall come 
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary," etc. I next refer 
you to chapter 11 of this book of Daniel, beginning at the 
twent3^-first verse, and call your attention especially to 
verse 31. I quote a portion, as follows: After the ^^raiser 
of taxes" arose and was destroyed, ^^In his estate shall stand 
up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of 
the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain 
the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood 
shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be 



304 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. . . . And 
he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king 
of the south with a great army; and the king of the south 
shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty 
army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast de- 
vices against him. . . . And both these kings' hearts 
shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one 
table; but it shall not prosper: for 3^et the end shall be at 
the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land 
with great riches: and his heart shall be against the holy 
covenant; and he shall do exploits and return to his own 
land. At the time appointed he shall return and come to- 
ward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the 
latter. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: 
therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indig- 
nation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall 
even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake 
the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and 
they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take 
away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the a/bomi- 
nation that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly 
against the covenant shall be corrupt by flatteries: but the 
people that do know their God shall be strong, and do ex- 
ploits. And they that understand among the people shall 
instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by 
flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.'' You observe 
here the man who took away the daily sacrifice, and learn 
something of his rise and career; he was the Antichrist, 
and we see clearly that the prophet is speaking of the end 
of the world, and in former quotations given you have seen 
he was to destroy the holy people, and Christ, in all of His 
conyersatioix with His followers, told them of these days of 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 305 

persecution that would arise before the end, by which signs 
they might know the end was nigh. But that you may be 
convinced that this man was the sign of the coming judg- 
ment when the people of God were to be delivered from 
such persecution and suffering by the great destruction, we 
will proceed to gi^e more of this chapter, which shows how 
the saints were tried as that day approached; Christ and 
the apostles all looked for such punishment aiccording to 
the wording of this chapter by the prophet Daniel, and it 
wais to occur just prior to and at the time they were looking 
for the second advent of the Word of God, by which they ex- 
pected to be delivered. 

Speaking of the people of God, he says: "Now when 
they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help; but 
many shall cleaive to them with flatteries. And some of 
them with understanding shall fall, to try them, and to 
purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the 
end: because it is yet for a time appointed. And the king 
shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, 
and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak mar- 
velous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper 
till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is de- 
termined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God 
of his fathers, nor the the desire of women, nor regard any 
god: for he shall magnify himself aibove all." [From the 
immediate preceding we might conclude that he was origi- 
nally a Jew or of Jewish descent, who had been taken pris- 
oner among the Greeks, for he evidently sprang from the 
Grecians after their war with the Medes and Persians.] 
"And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push 
at him: and the king of the north shall come against him 
like a whirlwind, with chariots, ajid with horsemen, and 



306 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and 
shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the 
glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but 
these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, 
and the chief of the children of Amnion. He shall stretch 
forth his hand also upon the countries: a^nd the land of 
Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the 
treasures of gold, a,nd of silver, and over all the precious 
things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall 
be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the 
north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with 
great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And 
he shall plant the tabernacle of his palaces between the seas 
in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his 
end, and none shall help him.^' Now I have said before that 
there is much written in the New Testament about this 
great day of God Almighty, and that the people of that aige 
were constantly looking for it and expected it in their gen- 
eration: so we will turn to Paul's second Epistle to the 
Thessalonians and see what he says about that day and the 
Antichrist of whom Daniel spoke in the previous quota- 
tions; see chapter 2, as follows: "Let no man deceive you 
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there 
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be re- 
vealed, the son of perdition: who opposeth and exalt- 
eth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shiped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, 
shewing himself that he is God.'^ This is "the abomination 
that maketh desolate" spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
and were they not expecting him at that time? John, in 
the book of Revelation, describes His appearance, and it is 
unnecessary for me to repeat or quote his words in chapter 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 307 

13, but in the end he says, for the benefit of those who lived 
then, of this '"hesLsV^: "Here is wisdom. Let him thafc 
hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it 
is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred 
threescore and six/' And he it was who destroyed and pun- 
ished the mighty and the holy people during the last half 
of the last week of time, which was one-half of seven years; 
some said forty and two months, others said one thousand 
two hundred and sixty days, and again others said for "a 
time, times, and the dividing of time," and then came the 
terrific end, and it is past; and when I speak thus, I mean 
no figure nor allegory, nor do I admit that the great work 
he did was a prefiguration of some great event that is to 
transpire in the yet future: but that all the work of ful- 
filling the Scriptures up to the twenty-first chapter of Eev- 
elation has been unreservedly done and finished, now and 
forever. But, as we will have occaeion to say more on this 
part of the subject, let us return and consider the time and 
events of the week. 

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for 
one week." We see already that he was in his heart against 
the holy covenant, and honored with silver and gold a god 
whom his fathers knew not, and "exalted himself above all 
gods, and he shall wear out the saints of the Most High 
and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given 
into his hand." We see in Revelation that he caused all 
to have a mark in their foreheads, or on their right hand, 
and that none could buy or sell without: and it is possible 
that this was a covenant of his own confirmed with many of 
the professed people of the true God whom he won by his 
flatteries, riches, or otherwise: this, however, is not prob- 
able; but, on the other hand, the people of God, seeing thiait 



308 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

in him was verified the words of prophecy, became thor- 
oughly reconciled and established in the holy covenant. 
This seems to be indicated in verses 32 to 35, where it is 
said, ^"'such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be cor- 
rupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God 
shall be strong and do exploits"; also that ^'some of them of 
understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to 
make them white, even to the time of the end/' It cer- 
tainly was the confirmation of. the holy covenant, of which 
we will speak in the future; but let us proceed. 

The next declaration was, "And in the midst of the 
week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.'' 
This needs no comment, since it is plain that as he exalted 
himself above all gods, he would put an end to every sys- 
tem of worship except his own, as soon as Jeirusalem and 
the holy people were given into his hands: and the Jewish 
system, being formal, was easily stopped; while that of the 
people of God, being spiritual, and the entire service within 
the heart, it was impossible to prevent it without cutting 
to pieces and destroying the holy people, which he pro- 
ceeded to do, in his effort to make them recant: and thus 
continued from the midst of the week, when they were 
given into his hands, till the sweeping destruction came. 
Daniel said a thousand two hundred and ninety days, and 
John said a thousand two hundred and sixty days, of which 
we will speak more clearly hereafter, and perhaps be able 
to show you that the former was shortened to prevent a 
tota^l destruction of the holy people, so terrible was their 
persecution, and slaiughter of this beastly heathen. Here 
it was, in the midst of the week, the old Jewish system of 
worship under the Mosaic law was forever broken down; 
and during this latter part of the week the sanctuary and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 309 

all the patterns of real things were destroyed, never to be 
set up again : and it is very plain to my mind that this was 
according to the decree of God; since all things were now 
being fulfilled, and the reality presented, there was no more 
use for those patterns and emblems, neither was thefr any 
further use for the Jews: for (xod had long since been dis- 
gusted with their service. The two chenibims were the last 
of the emblems to be introduced in real life, and they at 
that time began their work, of proving the Word of God, 
and it is said that they continued forty and two months. 
My reason for saying that these patterns were destroyed 
forever is, that they had filled all the purposes for which 
they were intended, having hitherto stood up as repre- 
sentatives of the real agents of God, the last of which were 
now introduced to take their places in actual life, and there 
could be no further use for them, nor the Temple, and to 
continue them longer would produce confusion and weaken 
the force of the real; and Paul said "when that which is 
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done 
awaiy," as you see it is to-day. I call your attention to an- 
other fact: that after man was prepared for a spiritual 
service, and Christ was introduced, the body of man was 
made the temple of God, and his heart the Sanctum 
Sanctorum. Christ was the priest who "at the end of the 
world" entered in once for all, and furnished the blood of 
purification from His own body. He was also the golden 
bowl upon the top of the candlestick, and the two olive 
branches were His two "principal witnesses," and the seven 
lapnps were the noted seven churches; and I need not go 
further in an explanation of these emblems, as you can cer- 
tainly understand them, and know that their places have 
been filled by the real and perfect things. In the ninth 



810 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

chapter of Hebrews, Paul speaks plainly of this matter; and 
Christ speaks of the temple of His body in St. John, chap- 
ter 2; but this was a new idea to them at that time> and 
they could not understand it; and Paul said to them (1 
Corinthians, ch. 3) : "Know ye not that ye are the temple 
of God, aTid that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If 
any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; 
for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." iinJl' 
in chapter 6 he tells them they are the temple of the Holy 
Ghost. John said (Revelation, eh. 21), in viewing the new 
Jerusalem, which is the present stage of the world estab- 
lished on the intelligence of man having a knowledge of 
the true God, "And I saw no temple therein," and it is 
plain enough that there is no more necessity for the Tem- 
ple nor any form nor emblem in the service of God, and 
where is the Temple and sanctuary to-day ? Destroyed and 
gone forever, and the old lifeless formalities in a set serv- 
ice are only used by organized bodies ^vho can not compre- 
hend the fact that each individual is a temple within him- 
self, and no man on eaxth can dictate his worship toward 
God. Is not the sacrificial and emblematic service oblit- 
erated to give place to the real, spiritual, and acceptable 
service of God, as was declared should be done in the midst 
of the week? And is not this positive and direct evidence 
that the work of Antichrist has long since been done—the 
bloody struggle with Gog from the land of Magog com- 
pleted and the "indignation overpast"? Ah, yes! the har- 
vest is over, and the great winepress of the wrath of God 
has been trodden, and the "blood came out" which was to 
testifying on earth that Jesus the Christ was the Son and 
mighty Word of God. 

For our future convenience in examining the time 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 311 

given by Daniel, let ns divide the week into days, as has 
also been done by some of the prophets, and we see that 
seven years of twelve months each, and thirty days to the 
month; give us two thousand five hundred and twenty days. 
One-half of this time, which is one thousand two hundred 
and sixty days, will bring us to the midst of the week, at 
which time the daily sacrifice and oblation were prevented, 
and the Jewish system of worship broken up, as before 
stated. Now if one thousand two hundred and sixty days 
bring us to the middle of the week, most certainly the same 
number of days will bring lis to the end of the week, dat- 
ing from the taking away of the daily sacrifice; and this end 
of the week was the time for the dreadful stroke to fall upon 
the world, which crumbled cities into ruin, devastated the 
land, and washed the earth with the blood of the nations, 
to cleanse it from the stupefying, tyrannical, and most 
abominable idol worship, which could never be more than 
fetters and death to the mind of man. 

As these matters were from time to time made a lit- 
tle plainer to Daniel, we must pass on to chapter 11, which 
1 gave you almost in full in the beginning of this chapter, 
and I would have you review it fr(.m verse 31, for in it you 
llnd a description of events of this last half of the week. 
I now repeat verse 31 for your convenience, and to refresh 
your memory: "And arms shall stand on his part, and they 
shall pollute the sanctuary of strength and shall take away 
the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination 
that maketh desolate." This "abomination" was the set- 
ting of himself up in the Temple and declaring to the world 
that he was God, the Omnipotent One; and we might in- 
fer that this was done immediately upon removing the daily 
sacrifice, but this was not the case (from the tenor of the 



312 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Scriptures) until after three years and six months of hor- 
rible persecution, torture, and butchery of the saints and 
holy people, until they had worn them out, and raised the 
faith and confidence of the wicked heathen in the Anti- 
christ to its highest possible standard and most luxuriant 
state. lN"ow that wickedness should be allowed in the works 
of God to reach a point so terrible seems strange; and yet 
it is but reasonable to suppose there were two great objects 
in view: on the one hand, that confidence and trust in mor- 
tal beings and material things should wither and forever 
die under this sweeping jnurderous stroke; while on the 
other an intelligent knowledge of the true and omnipotent 
Spirit of an Eternal God should live, grow, and forever take 
its place. 

At the end of this cruel "forty and two months" the 
abominable thing was set up, as you will see in the last 
verse of this chapter (11), which says: '^He shall plant the 
tabernacles of his palaces between the seas in the glorious 
holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall 
help him." And Jesus (in Matthew, ch. 24) tells them that 
as soon as they see this abominable thing set up which was 
spoken of by Daniel, they must flee for safety, as this was 
the signal for this terrible consumption aaid destruction of 
the earth to begin. Now this "glorious holy mountain" 
was the city of Jerusalem, and will you pause here and 
think a moment? God loved Jerusalem; she was called by 
His name; "He decked her with ornaments, and put brace- 
lets upon her hands, and a chain on her neck; girded her 
with fine linen and covered her with silk"; and could He 
now submissively see an arrogant flaunting pigmy, proclaim- 
ing himself to be God, enter her citadel, rob her of virtue, 
and destroy the influence she had exercised among the na- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 813 

tions of the earth? No, never! A thousand times better 
that all, both sadnt and sinner, fall together, by one mighty 
stroke of the Creator, and welter in a raging deluge of 
blood, that would leave the earth hushed and silent, with- 
out one single breath of life. Xor do we know what might 
have been but for the fact that a knowledge of the true and 
living God and faith in His power to save had been so 
stamped upon the hearts of many, by the heated iron of 
sore persecution, tha.t they obeyed His word and fled hastily 
to the mountains for safety when they saw the abominable 
thing; and some escaped, though doubtless many a weep- 
ing mother at least sank beneath the burden of a child in 
utero or the beloved babe she hugged close to her throbbing, 
aching breast; for Christ said: "Woe unto them that are 
with child, and to them that give suck in those days/^ 

I call your attention to one more fact written in this 
chapter (11); read it in verse 27, and see that no matter 
what the kings of the earth may strive to accomplish, "Yet 
the end shall be at the time appointed"; the time was fixed, 
and the kings and nations could not stay it; the Spirit of 
God was at work for His own name, and all things must be 
accomplished according to the decree; and this was the end 
of the world spoken of in all the Scriptures, as were the 
days of Noah when he was preparing the ark the end of 
that old world, or the close of the first great period of man. 
And now that the second is past, I must say that I have the 
best reason, even the word of God, for thinking that never 
again in the history of the world will there be such sweep- 
ing destruction and heart-rending sorrow among men. 
Why should we try so hard to construe the Scriptures to 
mean something yet more overwhelming and distressing to 
man? Surely this was bad enough, and wellnigh destroyed 



814 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

all flesh. It also satisfied God, for by it His ^^indignation 
was overpast/' The New Testament Scriptures all sup- 
port this position in their tenor. 

But we must turn to the last chapter of Daniel, who 
set his face to the Lord to know these things, by fasting 
and prayer I here write it, and ask thait you read it care- 
fully, as we will likely have occasion to refer to it again, for 
it affords much information in connection with the subse- 
quent Scriptures, aind is w^ell worthy of close study; and 
as that was the period which I have denominated the Intel- 
lectual, when men were taught to depend on their intel- 
lectual reason guided by Truth, which God intends man 
should do to-day regardless of the teaching of any man or 
set of men, we see in this chapter that at the close of this 
second period men were expected to be able to understand 
those mysterious things in this way, and profit by it. In 
other words, it was expected that men appeal to their com- 
mon sense in doing right and obtaining information. This 
chapter refers entirely to the last half week of the time, with 
which that world ended, and gives the time of the bloody 
contest. 

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great 
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and 
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since 
there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time 
thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found 
written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that 
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; 
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for 
ever and ever. But thou, Daniel, shut up the words and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 316 

seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run 
to and fro, and knowledge shall he increased. Then I Dan- 
iel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on 
this side of the bank of the ri\er, and the other on that 
side of the bank of the river." [Do you now observe the 
two cherubims, the two great- witnesses that constantly at- 
tend the Word of God and were placed about the tre»e of 
life in the garden of Eden ?] "And one said to the man 
clolhed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river. 
How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And 
1 heard the man clothed in linen," [the Word of God] 
"which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up 
his right hand and his left hand unto heaiven, and sware 
by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, 
and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scat- 
ter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be 
finished," [Here he refers to the Antichrist.] "And I 
heard, but I understand not: then said I, my Lord, what 
shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy 
wa}^, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the 
time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, 
and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of 
the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall under stajid. 
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken 
away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, 
there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand 
three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy 
way till the end be: for thou shalt rest and stand in thy 
lot at the end of the days." 

I suppose no one who believes the Bible at all would 
have the hardihood to say that this chapter does not refer. 



316 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

to the end of the world. It certaml}^ does, for if we take 
it in connection with any of the Scriptures on that subject, 
it does most harmoniously accord; and y-et there was not 
a ^*f ull end of Jacob'^ : the earth was left, and seed to popu- 
late it, as we can see by taking the Scriptures in their con- 
nections. This chapter not only refers to the end of the 
world, but to the last three years and six months, that most 
horrifying period, during which the wail of the poor suf- 
fering saints, who claimed that their God aiid Father lived 
in heaven, almost constantly rent the air and made the 
world hideous with their dying shrieks. These were the 
days of which Christ told the apostles and disciples — the 
days of persecution. In Matthew, chapter 24, you will see 
that after he tells them that there would be wars and earth- 
quakes in diverse places, that "nation should rise against 
nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (as Daniel prophe- 
sied), that they might know their dreadful trials were fast 
hastening. He said: "All these are the beginning of sor- 
rows. Then shall they deliver yoii up to be afflicted, and 
shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my 
name^s sake." Daniel (ch. 7, v. 25) said: "And they shall 
be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the 
dividing of time." And when this inhumjan wretch of 
"fierce countenance" obtained possession of Jerusalem and 
the holy land, the saints were delivered into his hands, that 
the world might witness the signal failure of his cruel, re- 
morseless torture and death upon the rack to make them 
recant and deny the name of their Savior, and cease to 
trust the Spirit of the Father for deliverance. Thanks, and 
praise, and glory, and honor to the God of heaven, in be- 
half of those poor suffering children, for the precious prom- 
ise contained in verse 13, chapter 24 of Matthew: "But 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 317 

he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved/' 
But if you wish to know more, or see a different and 
more definite account of the horrors of the period from the 
taking away of the daily sacrifice to the end of time, turn 
to Kevelation, chapter 13. John said: "I stood upon the 
sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the seai, hav- 
ing seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten 
crowns,- and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And 
the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet 
were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of 
a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, 
and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it 
were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: 
and all the world wondered after the beast. And they 
worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast : and 
they worshiped the beast, saying. Who is like unto the 
beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was 
given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blas- 
phemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty 
and two months. And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
worship him, whose names are not written in the book of 
life of the Lamb i.dain from the foundation of the world.'' 
Eead carefully and meditate on the consequences of a Chris- 
tian people being under the rule and at the mercy of such 
a beast, and then on bended knee thank and praise the 
God of heaven, that this blackest spot in all the history 
of man, or in the entire realms of the Son of God, is past, 
is gone forever; and say not that man in his present state 
of intelligence will ever sink beneath the wave of ignorance 
again, and so far forget the God who made him, and the 
Father who cares for him, as to necessitate another fiery 
ordeal such as this, l^o, it can never b^; the Spirit of God, 



318 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

or Spirit of Eternal 'rruth is standing guard over the 
world to-day, and darkness, sorrow, and tears will flee away. 

You remember in the last chapter of Daniel the ques- 
tion was asked, "How long shajl it be' to the end of these 
wonders ?^^ The answer is given, and you will please ob- 
serve that it was by the one representing the Word of God 
who stood over the waters, and he held up his hands toward 
heaven "and sware by him that liveth forever that it shall 
be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have 
accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all 
these things be finished." 

This evidently means three times and a half. Time 
means one, and two is the only definite number that can 
be expressed by "times" ; if you mean more, then the ex- 
pression is without any signification. At a former place 
the prophet iises the expression "dividing of time." Now 
we see already, by the previous quotation, that he means 
half; but we know thatt when anything is divided one time 
without regard to equity, it is then halved. Therefore it 
is unnecessary^ to say more in regard to this miatter, as I see 
from all the wTitings on this subject no reason whatever 
to think otherwise than that "time, times, and the divid- 
ing of time" simply means the sum of one year, two years, 
and the half of a year, which it does. We must understand 
all things by our intelligence and reason, and our teacher 
is the Spirit of God; and it is worse than folly to say or 
suppose that God ever handed to man anything to be writ- 
ten which would not be fully understood by him at that 
age of intelligence when the Spirit of God was poured out 
on the human family. 

Please observe again that Daniel said, "I heard, but I 
understood not; then said 1, my Lord, what shall be the 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 319- 

end of these things?"' I will give you the answer as it was 
given to Daniel by the same representative of the Word o-f 
God, who said: "From the timle the daily sacrifice shall 
be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate 
set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety 
days/' Now, if one thousQiid two hundred and sixty days 
be one-half of this week, and the daily sacrifice be taken 
away in the midst of the week, as was formerly stated, you 
will doubtless say that there is a discrepaiucy or discordant 
note. I agree with you; and just here I must say I meet" 
the most remarkable event recorded in all the Scriptures 
from beginning to the end; and it supports my position, that 
God's power over the wickedness of man is only to destroy, 
and that it was a reservaition of that power in the garden 
of Eden when He placed the cherubims and flaming sword 
to keep the way of the tree of life; and hence we see, as 
in this case, man, with his utmost efforts and vilest wicked- 
ness and ci*ime, can never foil God in His designs, though 
individuals and nations may forever ruin and destroy them- 
selves; nevertheless, man's ultimate destiny is to possess 
many of the attributes of his Creator. 

Let us turn now to St. Matthew, chapter 24; please 
read verse 22, and tell me, if you can, who is responsible 
or chargeable with this change. The same one speaks here 
who stood over the rivers Hidekal and Ulai and spoke to 
Daniel; now he says: "Except those days should be short- 
ened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's 
sake "those days shall be shortened." And Jesus here 
speaks of the very same occasion and there can be no mis- 
take, for in this same chapter He refers to this same end 
of the world, and calls the attention of His disciples to 
DanieFs prophecy in the. following manner: "And this 



820 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in all the world 
for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. 
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place,'^ 
etc. He then tells them to flee for safety; and in the next 
chapter of this work we will show you beyond ai doubt that 
the gospel was preached to every creature under heaven by 
those whom he appointed to do that work, preparatory for 
this end, John, in Eevelation, chapter 13, subsequent to 
the time of Christ, gives forty and two months, and in an- 
other place he gives a thousand two hundred and sixty days, 
making a difference of thirty days, or just one month. How 
all this comes about I know not; I entertain my own views, 
which I think are sustained by the Scriptures, and can as- 
sure you that they do not in the least detract from the 
beauty and glory of the most elegantly systema^tized oper- 
ations of God. 

As the preceding chapter (11) of Daniel gives a more 
detailed account of the acts and general career of this Anti- 
christ, I refer you to verse 44, which says: ^'Tidings out 
of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: there- 
fore he shall go forth with great fury to destro}^ and utterly 
to make away many.'^ This may enable you to some extent 
to understand my ideas as to the manner of shortening those 
days by hastening him to the consummation, and as it is 
said, "That being determined shall be poured upon the 
desolate.'^ Here it was that every man's sword was turned 
against his brother; and can you imagine a scene so san- 
gmnary, a butchery so teraific and complete? Think of 
the hundreds of 'thousands of vicious men, covering the 
earth in close order as far as the eye could reach, ready for 
battle, and each one suddenly prompted by a murderous 



Two TJwusand Years in Eternity. 321 

spirit to thrust his sword, dagger, or javelin into the heart 
of his nearest comrade, and at the sight of flowing blood 
become more enraged, until, like the tiger, he is crazed with 
the desire to see new fountains opened; and the end would 
only be when there were no more hearte to drain, or no arm 
to guide the gleaming blade. 

Ezekiel (eh. 38), after speaking of the murderous sword, 
said: "And I will plead against him with pestilence and 
with blood; and I will rain upon him and upon his bands, 
and upon the many people that are with him, an overflow- 
ing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.^' Daniel 
said: "The end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto 
the end of the war desolations are determined." And in 
chapter 11 he said. "He shall come to his end, and none 
shall help him." Thus you see that it is beyond the power 
of mortal and finite beings to render any assistance, or to 
prevent the execution of God^s decrees. 

Now for the length of time this terrific judgment and 
slaughter of the wicked and abominable heathen lasted, we 
must again turn to the last chapter of Daniel, where the 
Word of God told him plainly and with an oath thait after 
the Antichrist had accomplished to scatter the holy people, 
and complete his career, "all these things shall be finished" 
— that is, all that had been prophesied, even to the comple- 
tion of the terrific work of the judgment, which was the 
great day of God xnd it has been repeatedly stated that 
his career should end at the end of the week when he set 
himself up in the Temple as the abominable thing. Now 
Daniel says plainly, that from the taking away of the daily 
sacrifice to the abomination of desolation should be a thou- 
sand two hundred and ninety days; and then he said imme- 
diately: "Blessed is he th^ut waiteth, and cometh to the 



322 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Nov; 
suhtralct one thousand two hundred and ninety from one 
thousand three hundred and thirty-five, vrhich brings us to 
the end of these appalling scenes and horrible struggles, 
when the indignation was over past, and we have forty-five 
days, or one month and a 'half. Therefore, unless this time 
was also shortened, we can with much certainty say that the 
world (as it were) struggled, writhed, and gi-oaned in the 
dreadful throes of death for one month and fifteen days — 
a long time to suffer the last agonies; but think again — ^it 
was a world dying! And w^hen all was hushed and silent, 
the saints and survivors sallied forth from their hiding- 
places in the mountains, to look upon the field of massacre: 
and w^ho to-day can in the most remote manner imagine 
their feelings as they beheld the earth, as far as they could 
see, and ever3^where they looked, covered with the man- 
gled bodies and blackened gore of human beings, small and 
great ? And after you have goaded your imaginative powers 
till -their maximum! energies have been exerted, to compre- 
hend a butchery so remorseless, without a single trace of 
pity or relenting, then add one more thought — only one, 
for it is a hundredfold more appalling; it is this: they knew 
beyond all matter of doubt then that it was the vengeful 
work of an enraged and omnipotent G.od, Whose vindictive 
mutterings might yet have been heard in the distance 
as He withdrew, blood-stained and triumphant, from the 
battle-field, to take His seat in open court; where, still chaf- 
ing and angry. He fixed the penalty and passed the eternal 
sentence of darkness and death on all who chose or now 
choose to trust themselves for safety to the power of gold 
and silver, or any material thing, no matter how they may 
be presented; and on the other hand, the decision of the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 823 

Judge was equally firm and lasting, to give eternal life, 
growing intelligence, and power to all who would under- 
standingly receive it from Him as the great Power of all 
powers, and Authority to all authors following submissive- 
ly wherever the Spirit of Truth leads the way. "For God 
is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in 
spirit and in truth"; not form and ceremony, for that be- 
longs to idol-worship, and does stupefy and shackle the in- 
telligence of man. 

Since the ablest efforts of the most eloquent to describe 
these last struggles of miain against his Creator, and the 
dreadful suffering and privation of the saints or God's elect, 
would be held in derision, I ask that you take the written 
testimony, and let your mind present to your understand- 
ing these scenes, as well as others too far beyond the de- 
scriptive powers of any language, and can only in a meas- 
ure be comprehended by that eternal principle within man, 
by which he is made like his Creator. Language is too fee- 
ble for one man to teach another the sublime things of 
God, and hence T would say to you. Cut loose from the 
teachings of men; leave the first principles of the doctrines 
of Christ, and go on to perfection. 

In concluding this chapter, I ask you to think care- 
fully over all the Scripture that bears upon this subject, 
as well as what I have said, and know that on this occa- 
sion of the judgment of the nations of the earth there was 
also a general reckoning among the spirits of the dead, 
which w^as to cleanse and prepare the heavens, as well as 
the earth, as a dwelling-place for mankind who acknowl- 
edge God as the creator and ruler of all things m the im* 
mejiBe universe. 



324 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 



CHAFTER XVI. 

The Gospel Preached to the Living and the Dead, and Heaven 
also Shaken. 

Let ns again go black to the garden of Eden, where we 
see the tree of knowledge of good and evil ; we also see the 
tree of life, and know according to the tenor of the Script- 
ures, that the Creator did not intend ntan to partake of 
the frnit thereof at that time, but unquestionably it was 
according to His designs that man should be aHlowed the 
privilege at some future time, and thereby enjoy the great 
blessing of living forever. Nor was this simply a reward to 
man for his services on the earth, but beyond a doubt God 
made man for His awn use, not only here, but in his here- 
after state, and left it optionary with eiach individual to 
choose for himself, after giving him the power of intellect- 
ual reason ; knowing that no man makes a good and efficient 
agent unless prompted by his own volition and pleasure; 
therefore eternal life became a rewaird for obedience to the 
Spirit, which was absolutely necessary in the course which 
God provided to prepare man for His purposes hereafter. 
But according to His great and general system of opera- 
tion, all things are produced by a gradua<l, constant, and cer- 
tain process of development, by which the intellect of man 
was also produced, and raised to its present state of devel- 
opment, and must continue on, perhaps during his eternal 
existence. And since eternal life must necessarily be given 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 325 

to him through that intellectual reason which was planted , 
in him by his Creator, we see at once that he was unfit to 
be invested with this principle until his intellect had suffi- 
ciently developed to insure its triumphant control of the 
machine iii which it was placed; and hence it is that a long 
period elapsed from the creation of man to the tangible in- 
troduction of the Tree of Life. Now whatever may be the 
opinion of men on this particular part of the subject, I must 
say in support of my position, that this long period was not 
spent in a preparation of the Tree of Life for man, but to 
the contrary; man was being gradually prepared for the 
Tree of Life, and God foreknew the time at which he would 
be capable of accepting that principle intelligently, and ap- 
propriate it to the great and magnificent designs drafted 
in the beginning. Then it was the tree was brought within 
his scope, and he was commanded to eat and live; at which 
time also was begun a great preparation to cleanse the earth 
of the debris and all unnecessary and unsuitable material, 
and lay a foundation upon which a world could grow and 
develop in truth, beauty, and peace, and be perpetuated by 
that intelligent knowledge of God and consequent wisdom 
planted then and there, according to the original designs of 
Omnipotence. 

Let us again return and look over the ground from the 
beginning. Does it not occur to you that as all sprang from 
Adam and had that same germ of intelligence planted within 
their hearts, that it was but just and justice that all should 
alike have a right to the tree of life, and an opportunity 
to choose for themselves, at a proper time, between eternal 
life and eternal death? But we see that man's knowledge 
at this primary age caused him to pollute himself, and not 
only so, but also the lower order of animals intended to be 



326 Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

placed under him, till at last such disastrous results ensued 
that the earth would have totally spewed out its inhabitants, 
both man and beast, and thus defeated God's plans. But, 
as I have previously stated, God reserved to Himself the 
right to destroy man from off the earth,. and hence in due 
time, ere all the seed was corrupted, He shook the earth, 
and swept it, that the seed preserved in Noah and his fam- 
ily might grow up and gain a greater degree of power over 
the corrupting influences that would yet arise. 

But here we turn again and see thai: man passed out of 
his earthly existence from Adam on down to this date: and 
what disposition was to be made of their spirits? They 
were not fit to be clad in spiritual bodies and presented be- 
fore the throne of God for His use, nor could they, accord- 
ing to the Word of God, remain in their graves, for "the 
spirit quicken eth," and they were dead. But we have rea- 
son to believe that those spirits did remain unclad and im- 
prisoned (kept from sight) in this lower sphere called 'Tieav- 
en," as you have seen in Genesis, chapter 1. This is to be 
gleaned from the general tenor of the Scriptures; nor are 
we to suppose this to be all the heaven known to angels or 
recognized by God, for Paul said he knew a man taken up 
into the third heaven : but that did not benefit this earth 
nor its inhabitants. I admit, however, that Christ spoke 
of them as being in their graves; nevertheless. He could 
not have meant a sepulchre in which was placed the body, 
for thousands who were not in the sea mouldered into dust 
without a tomb; therefore He must have simply meant 
their hidden condition with bodies covered in the tomb, or 
mouldering into dust on the bosom of the earth: in either 
instance, they were hidden from sight, their spirits being 
wholly invisible; and hence the Psalmist said, "For thou 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. • 327 

wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy 
Holy One to see corruption/^ 

Allow me here to say that I hope you will neither be 
alarmed nor elated at the idea of my considering this ob- 
scured condition of man to be the hell alluded to in the 
Scriptures — alarmed for fear I have no place of punishment 
in my writings to deter men from doing evil, or elated at 
the idea that there is no more hell: for I assure you, ac- 
cording to my understanding, there is a condition more hor- 
rifying and more to be dreaded, if man will but look at it 
properly and in the light of ordinary intelligence. We may 
the more dread it, for by our reason and mental acquire- 
ments we can understand it to be more certain and nearer 
at hand than that ordinarily viewed as material fire. And 
it is the certainty, and not the magnitude, that makes de- 
struction appalling. 

Perhaps it is best to pause here a moment and make 
some further explanation on this subject; and in so doing 
I must say that I do not look upon hell as a place of pun- 
ishment: for certainly such would not have been just to 
those who passed away before the coming of Christ; nev- 
ertheless they were in hell, as was He during the three days 
His body laid in the tomb. In other words, they were im,- 
prisoned in an unintelligible condition, awaiting the com- 
ing of the Messiah to teach them the power of the Spirit 
of the true and living God, which knowledge was also es- 
tablished in the hearts of men living on the earth. This 
constituted eternal life, and in the great day of reckoning 
the spirits which accepted the teaching of Christ were 
clothed with spiritual bodies, and "death and hell were cast 
into the lake of fire,'^ as you will see in Revelation, chapter 20. 

Now this seems plain to me, and that you should eas- 



328 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ily understand it to mean that as eternal life is given to 
ns through Jesus the Christ, there is therefore no more 
dead^h, but immediately upon leaving the body the spirits 
of the people of God are clothed with spiritual bodies, and 
live on and on in the eternal realms of God; and while their 
bodies of corruption crumble into dust, they are no more 
required to remain in that hidden condition, as was nec- 
essary before the coming of Christ and the judgment of the 
great day of God Almighty. So now you see, as there is 
no more dea/th, and consequently no ra«ore hell, that the 
lake of fire is substituted henceforth to consume all the 
parings and the material unfit for use in the building; and 
hence all men who are led by the spirit or lusts of the flesh, 
contrary to the knowledge of right placed in their hearts 
by the Spirit of Eternal Truth, continue to drift on and 
on into a pathless sea of conflict, discord, and torture, 
traveling hurriedly hither and thither, while at the same 
time ever going deeper and further into the trackless 
dark, away from God, without Whom nothing in the uni- 
verse can live, until the individual spirit of the poor wretch 
is consumed by its own damning nature. This is that lake 
of fire into which men are cast during this eternal period 
while yet in the flesh, and continue on, after the spirit 
leaves the body during its existence, and is called "the sec- 
ond death." And while "death and hell were cast into the 
lake of fire," this death of the intelligent part of man is' 
all that the first death and the hell of the two first periods 
of man could possibly have been, and infinitely more, since 
in this latter case, from all the evidence given us, there is 
no possible medium of communication with God (Who is 
the life and light) after the spirit leaves the body, as was 
granted to those of the two former periods, and hence man 



Two Thousand Tears in Eternity, 329 

in this state is hopelessly obscured for ever, even perpet- 
ually sealed up with his own monotonous lifeless self. 

But we will return to the subject at the time of the 
flood, when God did shake the earth, broke up the fountains 
of the deep, and destroyed everything that breathed the 
breath of life outside the ark. We see that man as yet was 
in a state of great intellectual deficiency, and apparently, 
from the Scriptures, only capable of understanding tangible 
things. I mean especially all those outside the channel of the 
elect, through which the name of God was to be preserved 
among men: they also to a greater or less extent; and hence 
we can understand how fallacious it would have been to in- 
troduce the Tree of Life at this point, since they could not 
have comprehended a spiritual service: therefore it would 
have been unjust to have judged the world, both the living 
and the dead, for then would it have been equivalent to 
condemning and passing sentence of eternal death without 
a hearing and necessitated a second sacrifice for sin, or the 
introduction of another mediator somewhere in the future, 
to instruct the mind of man in a spiritual service when suffi- 
ciently intelligent; and this idea is supported in Paul's let- 
ter to the Hebrews (ch. 9), who to. some extent understood 
the formal service, but could not understand the object of 
Christ and His teaching, which was to show us that our 
intellectual reason, guided by truth, each for himself was 
only acceptable to God, and not any form or ordinances, 
which was strictly in accordance with the holy covenant, 
of which we will have much to say in the future of this 
work; the substance contained in it is to this effect, that 
"I will write my law in your hearts and put it in your inner 
parts/' and one man shall not teach another. I now refer 
you to that chapter written to the Hebrews (but I will write 



330 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

it out in full later on), onl}^ quoting verse 26: "For then 
must he often have suffered since the foundation of the 
world: but now once in the end of the world hath he ap- 
peared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Which 
shows conclusively that God in His designs waited until 
man's intellect could grasp the idea of His Spirit being the 
ruling power in him, ere He clothed His Word in flesh and 
sent It as a teacher; and with this hint I will pass on from 
this point to refer to it in the future. 

But let us take a different view of the matter, and sup- 
pose that all who lived prior to the introduction of the Word 
of God (which was in the days of Moses) were so ordered 
from the beginning as to live and die like brutes; it yet 
would not relieve us of the burden of those who were tc 
come after, and pass away during this long period of in- 
struction to the time when man could sufficiently compre- 
hend the requirements of God to choose between the two 
great extremes. And from the evidence presented in the 
Xew Testament Scriptures, we must conclude that this de- 
ficiency in the intellect of man was chargeable to the yet un- 
developed condition of the organs of the body, or properly 
the physical man, rather than the operation of the Spirit 
of God; the former requiring ages and cycles of training 
before it could comprehend or entertain the latter. The 
Spirit was already good and sufficient, for, as we shall see 
hereafter, that as soon as the living were ready to receive 
the testimony of the great Witness of the God of heiaven, 
the spirits of those who had passed away years and even 
hundreds of years before the Messiah came were also suffir 
ciently intelligent to comprehend His teaching. But why 
these spirits should be thus kept in prison, to await the 
preparation of man on the earth, is obvious: since God in- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 331 

tended to establish the earth upon a basis of intelligence 
and reason, and operate it through His Spirit, so that each 
individual henceforth shall be fully competent to under- 
stand and pursue such a course while living in the flesh 
that would present the verdict in his own case, and assign 
him to his place and ultima,te destiny, without any further 
convulsive action in the direct operations of God; and it 
is very evident that to establish this condition among men, 
so that it would be perpetuated, it was necessary to await 
that state of his intellectual development, so that Jesus the 
Christ, and sole agent of God, appointed to this work, could 
accomplish it at a single advent. And until this period 
arrived, the spirits of the departed must have been impris- 
oned in hea\^en to await the precepts and examples of the 
Messiah, preparatory for the judgment of this great day 
of God Almighty, at which trme the earth, being fully ripe, 
was gathered for the "winepress,'' a7id heaven was also shalcen, 
as you find foretold by Isaiah (ch. 13) : "Therefore I will 
shake the heavens, and the earth shall move out of her 
place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts ,and in the day of 
his fierce anger/' Joel, ch. 3, v. 16: "The Lord also shall 
roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and 
the heavens and the earth shajll shake: but the Lord will 
be the hope of his people." Haggai, ch. 2, v. 6 : "For thus 
saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and 
I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the 
dry land; and I will shake all nations." And John said, in 
reference to this great reckoning, that after the sixth seal 
was opened, "The stars of heaven fell unto the earth even 
as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken 
of a mighty wind." (Revelation, ch. 6, v. 13.) This was 
the way that these coming events were represented to John. 



332 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

And now, while we are at this chapter, in support of wh^t 
I have said ahove relative to the abode of the spirits of the 
dead awaiting the consummation of all things, I refer you 
to the disposition made of the elect martyrs, who were slain 
for the testimony which they held,' as spoken of in verses 
9, 10, and 11. After the fifth seal was opened, John said 
he saw their souls under the altar (remember, it takes a 
body and spirit to make a soul, and they must have been 
clad in their spiritual bodies), and although they were 
clothed so as to be intelligible, being the saints elected to 
this great work, and consequently predestined to salvation, 
they were told to ^'rest yet a little season, until their fellow- 
servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as 
they were, should be fulfilled/' Evidently all things in the 
heavens, both the souls of the elect and the spirits of the 
dead, awaited the completion of all things necessary to be 
done on the earth, preparatory for this great day of His 
"visitation," ere they received their rewards and punish- 
ments. The fourth chapter of Peter's first Epistle is a 
very good lesson at this point, but it is hardly necessary to 
give it in full, as we will refer to it further on. 

During a part at least of this time that elapsed from 
the crucifixion to the great judgment and destruction of the 
nations of the earth, Christ was in the spirit instructing the 
spirits of the dead, preparatory for that dreadful day, that 
they also might be judged after the same manner of men 
in the flesh. This same gospel was in the meantime, or we 
may say simultaneously, preached to all people on the earth, 
that they also might have fair warning of approaching dis- 
aster — a just opportunity to embrace or reject the truth 
and be wholly left without excuse. Now, since any being, 
no matter what class or species, should be held responsible 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 333 

by the higher authority to the extent of the knowledge and 
power given it, and no further, we can clearly understand 
that it was but just at this point to destroy men who had 
the power to obey the true God, and yet heedlessly passed 
His commands unnoticed. And that the world was notified 
of this coming judgment, and all nations had the gospel 
preached to them as well as the spirits of the dead, we wHl 
proceed to give what to those in that day was unmistakable 
evidence, or so considered. I am aware that a general idea 
prevails that the gospel has not yet been preached to all 
nations, or was not, which to me seems an egregious mistake; 
not greater, however, than the eifort and annual expend- 
iture of thousands of dollars to translate the Bible into the 
various heathen languages and place before them its un- 
meaning pages, being wholly unsupported by ocular or 
tangible demonstration, and thus trying to prepare a class 
of beings for a judgment yet to come, who, though living 
in the flesh to-day, were condemned at the time the angel 
of Jesus the Christ uttered the words written in verse 11, 
chapter 22 of Eevelation, when John was told not to seal 
up the book, "For the time is at hand. He that is unjust, 
let him be unjust still: a,nd he which is filthy, let him be 
filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous 
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.^^ And just 
with this ended the day of salvation, the bridegroom entered 
in, and the five foolish virgins had not their lamps trimmed 
and burning. 

Now as regards the preaching to the dead, or spirits of 
the dead who deserved as much as the living, we cannot 
expect a great deal to be said, as it could not very materially 
concern or affect the living; nevertheless, there has been 



334 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

enough to prove sufficiently that a> Just warning was also 
given them. 

In the first place, God had declared hy.the prophet 
Isaiah that His sword should be bathed in heaven. I give 
you the words as written in chapter 34; after speaking of 
the national destruction on the earth, he said: "And all 
the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall 
be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fall 
down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling 
fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in 
heaven,^^ etc. You see this matter was presented to Isaiah 
in the same manner as to John; or their descriptions are 
very much alike. Please read this entire chapter; remem- 
ber, as I have before stated, that the destruction in the 
great day of God Almighty was national. Now, since God 
had made a declaration against the spirits in heaven. His 
justice and mercy would forbid a remorseless slaughter or 
eternal death of all who passed away from Adam to Christ, 
without a hearing or demonstration of the power of the 
God of heaven to save as well as to destroy, and granting 
them an opportunity to avail themselves of the former; for 
at such an act of injustice man's intelligence would have 
revolted, and God's subjects could never have been wholly 
reconciled. But in the book of St. John, chapter 5, Jesus 
said: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him 
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into 
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.'' Fur- 
ther on He said, and with emphasis, ^^erily, verily, I say 
unto you. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead 
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and th©y that hear 
shall live." Read all the chapter, ancl you wil} clearly see 
that he was pointing the intelligence of man to t^e God of 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 835 

heaven in the entire work, governed by the mandates of the 
Father, and testifying of him; for he said: "If I bear 

witness of myself, my witness is not true For 

as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the 
Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority 
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. 
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all 
that are in the graves shall hear his voice.'' Now mark 
here that the word "graves" does not mean the sepulcher 
in which was laid the body, since to so construe it would 
produce gross inconsistencies; but it does mean the hidden 
•condition of those who had passed away previous to that 
date, and has been used by other writers to mean the same 
as the word "hell." (I mean writers of the Bible.) 

You will please observe in the conversation with Mar-' 
tha (St. John, ch. 11) about her brother Lazarus, who was 
dead, Christ told her that He was the resurrection and the 
life; and further said, "He that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live," etc., and appealed to her 
understanding in a question, "Do you believe this, Mar- 
tha?" But her answer was somewhat evasive, showing that 
she could not fully realize a thing of such magnitude; nev- 
ertheless, it certainly is comprehensible to us, living two 
thousand years subsequent to this man of God. 

Now it is an impossibility, and wholly incompatible 
with any system of reasoning, that the dead or living should 
or could believe, without hearing tha«t which they were re- 
quired to believe. And because the whole matter is thor- 
oughly consistent, and fully harmonizes with the system' of 
intelligent reason which God has given me, I wholly and 
indubitably believe as Christ said, that He did preach to 
the spirits of the dead. 



336 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Let ns turn to Peter's first Epistle, chapter 3, where we 
see that Christ, in His mission to convey to man a proper 
knowledge of the God of heaven, did suffer for sins, as it 
is said, "Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the 
spirits in prison,'' etc. Therefore we must conclude that 
He made Himself or was made as intelligible to the spirits 
of the dead, after the crucifixion, as He had been to the 
living before; and being endowed with the power spoken 
of a<bove. He was as capable of understanding their decis- 
ion and choice as of those who yet dwelt in the flesh. He 
also said in chapter 4, speaking of the judgment of the liv- 
ing and the dead, which was fast approaching: "For for 
this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are 
dead, that they might be judged according to men in the 
flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." And it is 
plain to be seen by the above quotation that what he means 
by the word "dead" is, not living in the body of flesh, and 
the two classes to whom He did preach were the spirits of 
men yet in bodies of flesh and blood, and the spirits which 
had previously dropped them; and the work was complete 
at the time Peter wrote this letter, for he said in the very 
next verse: "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye 
therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." And hence we 
have no possible grounds for supposing that injustice has 
been done any man or set of men from Adam to the pres- 
ent day. 

Since it is useless to say anything further on this part 
of the subject, seeing that there are direct declarations that 
Christ did preach to the departed spirits, we will turn to 
the evidence that the Scriptures were also preached to all 
nations on the face of the earth: amd I must first say, in 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 337 

plain, unmistakable language, that I mean literally that 
the gospel was preached by authorized agents of Jesus who 
was the Christ, endowed with the power to perform mir- 
acles through the Spirit of God, and sent to all nations on 
the habitable globe at that time, and that the work was 
fully completed in the days of the apostles, preparatory for 
the great destruction; and further, that this fact is so prom- 
inently set forth in the writings of the New Testament, 
thajt it is certainly most surprising to me how any individ- 
ual with an unbiased mind could ever read it carefully 
through and not so understand it most clearly. Therefore, 
I first ask you to please fix this subject in your mind, and 
take a retrospective view of the books of the New Testa- 
ment, especially the writings of Paul and the work assigned 
him. The great object of the apostles was to preach to the 
people and nations throughout the habitable earth, and pre- 
pare them for the coming kingdom of the Messiah and the 
great and terrible destruction. They were in the twelve 
foundations of the beautiful city; and how can you ignore 
their work ? Do you not see the precious stones of every 
kind with which those foundations were garnished? These 
are the fruits of their labor, that foundation was laid By 
them during their lives on the earth, and we to-day are at 
work on the walls: and should we not use the square and 
plumb-line with uncompromising care and accuracy above 
a foundation so beautiful, so costly, and cemented in blood? 
Ay, truly! each of us should bring from the quarry a pol- 
ished ashlar, that would call forth a smile of approbation 
from the Master Builder. 

But while it is pleasant to dwell on these things, we 
must prove the work before us, and hence we will first turn 
to the Acts of the Apostles (ch. 1, v. 8) and read the very 



338 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

last words of our Lord on the earth. Please give them their 
due weight, and do not construe them to mean a figure, or 
some great work to be done in ages to come ; only remember 
what He said, for I wish you to refer in your mind to these 
last -words of Christ when 1 call your attention to what one 
of the most learned of the apostles said relative to this work 
thirty or forty years thereafter. Just before leaving the 
apostles for the last time (you know His words were of the 
gravest import). He said: "Ye shall receive power after 
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be wit- 
nesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, amd 
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earthJ' Now 
certainly their work is well defined, and the command is 
plain and unmistakable ; and the next question is. Did they 
obey it? In answering this question, I do not purpose to 
examine the works of each apostle, for the Scriptures do 
not give them ; but will take the works of Paul and his evi- 
dence, since he was appointed especially to the work among 
the heathen nations of the world; for the Lord, after having 
said on a former occasion that he was ai chosen vessel to 
bear His name to the Gentiles, told him (in chapter 22) to 
"depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles"; 
and Paul did go, as may easily be understood. For this 
great work the apostles could speak all languages, and make 
themselves understood to any nation or people on the 
earth; and had it not been so, or had they been required to 
study the languages as we do to-day, they never could have 
completed the work assigned them in the given time: for 
you see on former pages of this work that the time was 
fixed, and at that time the end should come. God^s elect 
were scattered everywhere that men dwelt on the face of 
the earthy and were tp be instructed in the terrible and pain- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

fill work in accordance with the designs marked out by the 
Master before He left. We see while Paul was at Corinth 
the Lord spake to him and siaid: ^^Be not afraid, but speak 
and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man 
shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have miuch people in 
this city.'^ But they were yet to be converted, and henca 
Paul stayed there "a year and six months, teaching the 
word of God among them/^ 

But let us go on to chapters 20 and 21; I never read 
them but my voice falters from a swelling heart, and my 
eyes are blinded with tears of sorrow. Poor fellow ! Af- 
ter he had traveled for many years in great peril among 
the brutish heathen, suffered pain and privations, toiled for 
food and raiment, with no home while teaching the com- 
mon people of the nations, beca/use he could not in this 
capacity have an audience among the royal families, he must 
go back to Jerusalem, and there be accused by the abom- 
inable and blinded Jews, bound in chains, and brought a 
prisoner before the rulers, in order that they hear his tes- 
timony and be left without excuse; and not only so, but, 
innocent as he was and as the kings before whom he was 
tried- declared, he must be carried a long Journey in heavy 
irons, that he might also appear before Caesar, who was 
then the head of the nations of the earth. And all for what ? 
Because he had said that the man Jesus whom the Jews 
wanted crucified had come to life again, after He had been 
nailed to the cross. 

We see in chapter 10 of Matthew that Christ fore- 
warned them of these afflictions and persecutions, saying: 
"And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for 
my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.'* 
Well ^d truly could he call himself a "prisoner of Jesus 



340 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

Christ/^ See him before a heathen court and think of the 
force that was added to his testimony by the clanking of 
the chains he so proudly wore. Ah! the gospel was well 
preached; and every heathen and Jew was left without ex- 
cuse on the face of this earth. 

Paul also speaks in various places of his travels and 
privations among the heathen, and he was evidently en- 
gaged in the work a long time; but he was only one of the 
many who were employed in spreading the news to the 
world, and admonishing all those who had a<icepted their 
teaching to be steadfast, watch closely over their actions, 
and constantly pray: for they could not know the exact day 
when the great crash would. come; and not only so, but as 
the time approached, trials and persecutions of the most 
severe character would come upon them unavoidably. The 
very nature of this immense change in man's condition from 
animal oppression to the intellectual liberty of the Spirit 
of God would most reasonably bring about a strenuous, pit- 
iless effort on the part of the party hitherto in power to 
kill, stamp out, and obliterate, if possible, at any cost, the 
germ and root of a rising element which they could see, if 
left alone, would forever lay their kingdoms in ruin. And 
hence it was so necessary that those on whose shoulders the 
burden was laid should keep their bodies clean and pure 
and wholly in subjection to the Spirit of God, that their 
faith which was to support them in the trying hour be not 
shaken: for we see at once that if their confidence in the 
promises of God begin to waver, it would be impossible for 
them to endure the pain of the cruel torture inflicted to 
make them recant. 

Let us now turn to Komans, chapter 10, where we find 
Paul explaining to them the manner of salvation by belief 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 341 

on the Lord Jesus; also the necessity of preaching this 
gospel to all, otherwise they could not be saved; and he 
said there was no difference between the Jew and the Greek, 
and how could there be any difference between the Greek 
and any of the Gentile world? God's people, I say again, 
were among every nation; and when I say "Israel," I do not 
meajn the Hebrew of to-day, nor Judah as a nation, for 
they were no more than heathen to God, and those aanong 
them who embraced Christ, and thereby worshiped God in 
a saving manner through the ^Spirit of Truth with under- 
standing, had to come from among them, as did those from 
the heathen nations : and this is the great reason why Christ 
spoke in parables to them, that they be not healed under 
the old Mosaic law, but embrace Christ through a perfect 
understanding of the Spirit of God; that they might serve 
Him acceptably and not in form. In verse 13 he tells them 
that, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
shall be saved.'' In the next verse, by way of illustration. 
He asks, "How then shall they call on him in whom they 
have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of 
whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear with- 
out a preacher?" Then he said that they had not all 
obeyed the gospel, and spoke of the same unbelief in the 
days of the prophet Esaias. Then he came to the point, 
and told them briefly how that faith came by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of God, and in verse 18 he speaks of 
the important matter of the gospel being preached to the 
nations by those who were sent, as follows: "But I say, 
Have they not heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went into all 
the eaj^th, and their words unto the ends of the world." 
Now do you not see that to impress this fact upon them, 
he asks the question relative to the preaching of the gospel 



342 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

by the apostles to all the world, "Have they not heard?" 
And then answers the question himself as you would do, 
"Yes, yes, they have." But we will go on with the evidence. 

In chapter 11 (of Romans) he speaks of the elect, which 
unquestionably were those by whom the kingdom was es- 
tablished, and they were among all people and nations. 
Read this chapter and you will see at once the difference 
between the Jews nationally, and the Israelite in truth, 
whom God foreknew: and all of His direct words to man 
show that in speaking of Israel now, or since He cast them 
off, does not mean any but His elect; and He said to Elias, 
prior to their fall, "I have reserved to myself seven thou- 
sand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of 
Baal"; and Paul said, "Even so then alt this present time 
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace"; 
and hence we see at that time, and for the particular pur- 
pose, "the gifts and calling of God were without repent- 
ance." Th.ey were drawn by the Father, and this new sys- 
tem was emerging from heathenism; and we to-day are the 
recipients of its good results, being reared under the admin- 
istration of the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God. 

Let us turn to one more letter of this zealous man wriC- 
ten to the Colossians, who had accepted the faith imder the 
teaching of Epaphras perhaps, and had never seen Paul, 
like many others to whom he wrote, being anxious that they 
should understand clearly the whole system, and be thor- 
oughly fortified against the enemy's attack at all times; and 
well might he constantly suffer with anxiety, fearing that 
they succumb to the strong influences of former abomina- 
ble habits, of heathen lusts, and thereby bring reproach 
tipon the cause, which would be discouraging to the Chris- 
tian bands and strengthen the determination of their ene- 



Two TJioitsand Years in Elernity. 343 

mies. For Paul knew full well that although the light and 
liberty of the real truth which the}^ had received was an im- 
mense power and support, he also could appreciate the great 
change from heathenism and knew their burden was heav}'-. 
And since the spreading of the gospel throughout the Gen- 
tile world was given to his charge, it was but reasonable to 
suppose he would be to the day of his death intensely anx- 
ious that the material gleaned from among the heathen 
should be of the first class, firm and unflinching in the 
day of trial; and hence, after he could travel no longer 
among them, he sat in chains, writing words of admoni- 
tion and encouragement wherever he thought it might be 
beneficial ; and in speaking of this heartfelt interest, he 
said he had great "conflict^^ for them. 

But to come more directly to our subject, let us read 
Colossians, chapter 1. Paul speaks of the "hope which is 
laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the 
word of the truth of the gospel : which is come unto you as it 
is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also 
in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of 
God in truth /^ It certainly is clear that all the world had 
received the gospel in this period of thirty or forty years; 
and not only so, but for their encouragement he tells them 
that it is attended with good results and producing fruit, as 
it was and had been doing in them (the Colossians) since 
the time they first heard of it. 

But if this be not suificiently plain and conclusive, and 
you can not yet endorse my position that this work was well 
and thoroughly done preparatory for the great destruction 
and in accordance with the last words and command of our 
Lord previously mentioned, read verse 23 of this same chap- 
ter; speaking of their final acceptance with God, he sadd: 



S44 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

"If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be 
not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have 
heard, and ivMcli was preached to every creature which is un- 
der heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister/' 

Now this certainly is conclusive; and there is no pos- 
sible ground for thinking he had reference to any other 
than the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, nor any other man- 
ner of preaching it than that which was fully satisfactory 
to the God of heaven and His Son, the Holy One of Israel. 
Therefore the work was done,. both in heaven and on earth: 
for, as we have shown, while Jesus was quickened by the 
Spirit, and was preaching to the spirits in prison. His apos- 
tles and disciples were busily engaged spreading the news 
through the earth preparatory for the introduction of this 
new and sublime era of intelligence, presided over by the 
Spirit of God. 

Now that all things are made ready, there is no further 
use for the spirits of the departed to remain in that impris- 
oned state. We see that the last thing to be done was to 
preach the gospel to all nations, "and then shall the end 
be'^; and this end is not only an end of heathen rule on the 
earth, but also of all stupid systems of worship, attended 
with form, ceremony, or ordinances set up by men for the 
government of a body : for we can see in our finite condition 
(so to speak) that no man nor set of men can possibly be 
perfected by them: for just to the extent of the form and 
rules laid down by men, however limited they may be, just 
so far is the due responsibility of each individual to God 
shifted to those who teach, and their energies and earnest, 
honest efforts in search of that Truth which is their guide 
are partly broken. And at the time this stupid heathenish 
system of form and ordinances was discarded by the God 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 345 

of heaven, He established that perfect system which brings 
lis atlmost directly in contact and communication with the 
omnipotent God, since by it He can command each individ- 
ual separately, for His own purposes, regardless of his neigh- 
bor, brother, or society, presuming to dictate terms of peace 
between him and that God who no longer issues an order 
or command to one man for the government of another. 
It is by this most beautiful system only that the prayer 
which Jesus taught His disciples can ever be realized, "Thy 
will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.'^ 

This great end was to be the last, and we may say the 
only reckoning among departed spirits; and now, when man 
drops the body of flesh, he goes quietly and certainly to hife 
abode, either in eternal and intellectual peace and happi- 
ness, or to his place of despair, where there is no God and 
nothing real and truthful can be found, and without tumult 
or the slightest confusion even to his nearest neighbor. 
With what care should our destiny be shaped and our e.ter- 
nal habits formed, even from the earliest childhood! 

Before closing this chapter, I must say that at the 
time this system was adopted by the God of heaven, to the 
exclusion of all others, was the time when the world was 
truly and properly organized and established an that intel- 
lectual basis which was designed from the beginning: and 
although it is not thoroughly understood, and consequently 
cramped in its operations, I think the time not far distant 
when the veil will be shaken off by a convulsive action, and 
the purging influence of the sword, famine, or pestilence, 
or a combination of the three great agents of God Almighty, 
which must and will continue their operations of purging 
and cleansing the earth, step by step, but never again mo- 
lest the heavens. And although these convulsions upon the 



346 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

earth produce excessive vibrations of action and reaction, 
stimulation and sedation, unavoidably, nevertheless the world 
sooner or later settles to its normal condition again, and 
moves on in its course of improvement, while these con- 
vulsive actions become less violent, and each subsequent 
period of rest and composure of greater duration. 

And now, under this new system of God's operations 
and direct commands to each individual through the Spirit, 
we are less excusable, and can understand in an intelligent 
manner the character and certainty of our doom if we do 
not obey and carry out His will. And that hitherto the 
law and all formal service was temporary, imperfect, and 
perishable, but adopted as the best system for man's gov- 
ernment prior to this intelligent period, at which time all 
temporary things were to be swept away, and this perma- 
nent great system of God set up. 

Turn once more to the Scriptures and see in the letter 
written to the Hebrews how differently they tried to ex- 
plain these mysteries to a people who in time past had some 
knowledge of the operations of God and understood the 
laws of Moses; and to show those who accepted faith in 
Jesus how the old and temporal things must be swept away 
from the heavens and the earth, to give place to a new, per- 
manent, and perfect system. Eead the entire' letter; for 
there are some valuable truths which they could understand 
readily, but we to-day have to use great care and discrimin- 
ation to see their application and beautiful appropriateness; 
but upon the immmediate subject read especially the latter 
part of chapter 12, as follows: "See that ye refuse not 
him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused 
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, 
if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 347 

whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath prom- 
ised, saying. Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but 
also heaven. Axidi this word. Yet once more, signifieth the 
removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that 
are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may 
remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot 
be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God ac- 
ceptably with reverence and godly fear,^^ etc. 

I think it plainly shown in this as well as many other 
parts of the Scriptures, that there is no further destruction 
of the earth contemplated, and that the heavens are now 
prepared as a final resting-place for all those who follow the 
Spirit of Truth and do the will of God. This also is in 
accordance with the declaration of Christ, Who said to all 
such obedient sons of God, ^'I go to prepare a place for you, 
that where I ajn ye may be also. 

Prior to the coming of the Messiah, all died; after He 
came into the world, the Tree of Life, there was no more 
death to those who believed. "Jesus himself, having life 
in Himself,^' only slept; and when He was raised and clothed 
with His spiritual body, after His ascension, did "hecome the 
first fruits of them that slept" (1 Corinth., ch. 15, v. 20), and 
others remained till preparations were made; then the 
earth was again swept, the heavens were also cleansed of 
all impure and perishable things, and all who slept were now 
awakened, and clothed in their 6ternal, clean, and imperish- 
able bodies ready to do the will of God in heaven. And now 
to all those who follow closely the Spirit of Eternal Truth 
while in the flesh there is no more death, neither will they 
sleep; therefore we can say intelligently, "0 death, where 
is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory ?^^ 

Reader^ it is A^our' intelligence that will live forever: 



848 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

educate it by the Spirit of Truth that is in you, regardless 
of any man or set of men; and cease to attach any import- 
ance to this body of flesh and blood, or look down into the 
grave with terror, or even regret, for you and I — thanks be 
to God I — will never lie there. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 349 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Second Great Destruction Past. — Miscellaneous Evidence. 

Now as regards the position that all things written 
have been fulfilled, we will give in this chapter a sort of 
epitome of the evidences as they appear to man in a com- 
mon-sense view as set forth in the Scriptures. Evidently no 
man with a mind liberated from prejudice or sectarian influ- 
ences can read them without arriving at the conclusion, be- 
yond a doubt, that all things were to transpire during the 
period of man's existence on the earth, or, in other words, 
man in the flesh was to survive the most appalling event 
mentioned therein; and upon examination of the New and 
Old Scriptures it will be found that all important trans- 
actions mentioned in the New are also foretold in the old Bi- 
ble; or, as we may say, the entire work of God in bringing 
man to a correct knowledge of Himself, and establishing the 
world under the rule of His Spirit, was foretold, full and 
complete, by His holy prophets, as is written out in the Old 
Testament Scriptures, beginning at the time He discarded 
Israel nationally as His authorized agent and representative 
before the nations of the earth. The object of this fore- 
telling is clear, as I have shown you before, to be the great- 
est evidence to man of the power and onmiscience of God, 
and was so stated in the body of prophecy; and further, that 
all men who accepted faith in Jesus as the Christ were to 
know the prophecy was from God by its coming to pass. 
We see in Deuteronomy, ch. 18, vs. 31-22, and elsewhere, the 
manner of determining the true prophecy: "And if thou 



350 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which the 
Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the 
name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to paes, 
that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the 
prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shaJt not be 
afraid of him." And are we to wait for ages and cycles yet, 
as we have already, to realize at last that the prophecy was 
not from God? i^ay, but this must not be. Nevertheless, 
if you are looking for events to transpire in the yet future, 
which were prophesied two thousand years and m'ore in the 
past, I have the best authority for saying that your prophet 
spoke them presumptuously, except in such cases where the 
prophecy is being daily fulfilled, and will require perhaps 
hundreds of years — yes, ages for its completion, as in the 
finishing of the city of the New Jerusalem, which is being 
build ed day by day. God's own prophets were thus to un- 
derstand they were sent of Him. I will give you but one 
example here, which is recorded in Jeremiah, chapter 33. 
He knew not certainly that he was a prophet sent of God 
till Hanameel, his uncle's son, came and sold the field of 
Anathoth, for this was the first of his prophecies that had 
been realized; and as soon as Hanameel came to him and 
offered to sell the field, he said, "Then I knew that this was 
the word of the Lord," for he had prophesied that he would 
come, or such had been shown, him; notwithstanding, he 
believed when he was a boy that he was brought from the 
womb a prophet of God: but this convinced him that the 
knowledge of coming events, and his duty before his fel- 
low-men stamped so plainly in his heart, was placed there 
by the Spirit of Almighty God. And here allow me to say, 
strange as you may think, that this was the greatest evi- 
dence to Jesug as a man, that He w^s intended gis Christ, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 35 i 

the Messiah; and in this please do not condemn me without 
a careful investigation of that subject, and if God will, we 
will examine it together subsequently. 

Now the object of prophecy and its verification being 
to prove to man the true and living God, that we may wor- 
ship Him in ah intelligent manner and recognize His Spirit 
within us, we see- at a glance — ^yea, the stubborn truth is 
borne on the face of all the work, and is inseparably connect- 
ed with it, that if these prophecies have not transpired, then 
are we in doubt as to the truth of them, and the omniscience 
of that God by whom they are supposed to be given. And 
further, that if the most important and terminal events 
have not been verified, then we cannot look upon all pre- 
vious ones- as indubita*ble evidence, and the world cannot 
thus be established. For beyond a doubt this great purpose 
against the world, which was to result in the destruction 
of idolatry, was also intended as the iasurmountable and 
invincible evidence that the God of heaven had spoken it, 
and that Jesus the Christ was the connecting link between 
Him and His intelligent creatures on the earth. Other- 
wise there could be no redemption nor salvation; for God 
cannot be satisfied till man is reconciled to Him. 

Now it was evidently arranged, as shown in prophecy, 
so that as time rolled on age after age the events that 
constantly transpired would afl^ord a continued train of 
evidence to man of the infinite knowledge and power of 
the God of heaven, until all things written were fulfilled, 
and the world thereby established in an iadestructible 
knowledge of the power of His Spirit. But if we construe 
the Scriptures to mean that the world is yet to be burned 
up with material fire, and left uninhabited, and force such an 
idea on the minds of rising generations, will not the ages 



352 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

as they roll by, instead of strengthening and confirming man 
in a knowledge of the power and omniscience of the God of 
heaven as \\ as intended, have a reverse effect, and the iutel- 
ligence of man finally revolt, and multiplied thousands of 
skeptics be produced among the best specimens of the hu- 
man family, not to say infidels: seeing that instead of such 
events arising as- were prophesied, and really did transpire 
hundreds of years ago, that the body of the earth be made 
more habitable in all of its parts, and prepared as the dwell- 
ing-place for man ? And is not the preaching of such a 
doctrine already having this effect upon many human be- 
ings of fine intellect? And will it not retard the progress 
of God^s operations in refining the world aoid bringing it 
to that state of perfection contemplated, and subject the 
human family to much unnecessary suffering under the 
sword, and perhaps famine and pestilence, ere his glory "fill 
the earth as the waters cover the sea'*? This must and will 
be done in the history of man, and I would have you give due 
consideration to these questions and let them be answered 
by the Spirit of Truth within you, uninfluenced by the opin- 
ions of professed teachers, clothed with bodies of flesh and 
blood. ' ' 

I meet with skeptics among the Christian people every- 
where I go who were raised up under the sound of the voice 
of teachers of the Word of God. This should not be, and 
most certainly the Scriptures are not at fault, for they do 
harmonize ; therefore I am forced to think that ere long the 
Spirit of Truth in the hearts of men will revolt at the stu- 
pidity of this teaching (though it come from the learned 
men of the world) and revolutionize this system of reason- 
ing upon the Word of God — place man properly upon the 
permanent and intelligent basis of the Spirit of God and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 353 

enable him to look back with great admiration on the stu- 
pendous work, and proclaim a verification of the words of 
the prophet, ^TBehold it is come, and it is done, saith the 
Lord God/' or realize the truth of the "great voice out of 
the temple of heaven from the throne saying, It is done.'' 

In addition to the above, I must say that the prophet 
Daniel in his writings certainly speaks of the entire work, 
and foretells all of the important events spoken of any- 
where else; and when this great panorama was held up be- 
fore his understanding, he was told, as you will see in chap- 
ter 8, to shut up the vision, "for it shall be for many days''; 
and in chapter 12 the angel said, "But thou, Daniel, shut 
up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the 
end/^ Now turn to Eevelation, ch. 22, v. 10, where the 
angel said to John, "Seal not the saying of the prophecy of 
this book, for the time is at hand"; and after you have ex- 
amined closely the earnest and persistent admonitions by 
all of the apostles to the people to prepare for this terrible 
day of destruction by watching and prayer, not knowing 
what hour it would be upon them, I will ask you the follow- 
ing question, and let the answer be given to your own intel- 
ligent reason, and think well upon the consequences: Is 
it'^not reasona.ble to suppose that a much longer period 
would elapse in the history of man from the time Daniel 
was told to shut up the prophecy and seal the book, down 
to the time it was opened to John on the isle of Patmos, 
than from this latter date to the final consummation of all 
things written? 

I do not see how any unprejudiced mind in the presence 
of God could think or decide otherwise. But we see, by 
the best method of computing time, that from Daniel to 
John is reckoned to be about six centuries and a half, while 



354 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

from the time John was told that those terrible things were 
about to be realized — even at the door, down to the present, 
is about eighteen centuries, or nearly three times as long; 
and yet we look, and wait — can yon tell me for what ? I am 
thoroughly satisfied the end of the world spoken of in the 
Scriptures was in the far-distant past, and cannot be other- 
wise according to the theory of the Scriptures and the prac- 
tical knowledge of man to-day. Do not let the learned of 
the Avorld lead, you astray by appealing to profane history, 
for I can assure you that after you leave the Bible of books 
there is no end, and many have towered high in worldly 
learning, and after they have searched through libraries of 
antiquity, their answers leave you enshrouded in the same 
unhappy mist as before. Books will never reach God; turn 
your search to your o^vn heart, and by your intelligence 
commune with the Holy Spirit and be content. 

But let us look for other evidence. In John, chapter 
16 and elsewhere, Jesus told all of His disciples, of the sore 
persecutions that would come upon tliem — not future genera- 
tions, for the same persecutions of which He spake did come 
upon the disciples in that day. He says: ''These things 
have I spoken unto j^ou, that ye should not be offended. 
They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time 
Cometh, that whosoever killeth you Avill think that he doeth 
God service. And these things will they do unto you, be- 
cause they have not known the father, nor me.'' Paul him- 
self, after the days of Jesus, punished them, caused them 
to blaspheme, and sanctioned their death, thinking he did 
God service; many of the saints he shut up in prison at 
Jerusalem and elsewhere, and gave evidence against them 
when they were put to death. (Acts, ch. 26.) But greater 
punishment than this was expected from the heathen at a 



Two Thousand Years in ^Eternity. 355 

later date. These persecutions of the saints and destruc- 
tion of the last day are mentioned in Matthew, chapter 23 ; 
and Jesus after telling them of the punishment that would 
come upon the scribes and Pharisees for their wickedness 
and hypocrisies, said plainly: "Verily I say unto you. All 
these things shall come upon this generation/' In Mark, 
chapter 9, v. 1, He also said : "Verily T say unto you. That 
there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste 
of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with 
power." Luke (ch. 9) speaks of the Son of Man coming in 
Ilis glory and the glory of the Father, and said: "But I tell 
you of a truth, there be some standing here which shall 
not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God/' In 
the last chapter of St. John, Jesus spoke of John remain- 
ing on the earth until His second coming, and Peter, being 
curious, asked Him about it, and Christ told him it was 
none of his business. The tenor of the letters of all the 
apostles show that the generation then Kving was expecting 
the great day of God Almighty; and Luke (ch. 21) men- 
tioned the days when Jerusalem, would be compassed with 
armies, as a sign to the people, and told them how to es- 
cape, and said in plain and unmistakable language, which 
accords with the various accounts given by other writers, 
as follows: "For these be the days of vengeance, that all 
things which are written may be fulfilled.'' He evidently 
refers to the "consumption" decreed against the whole earth 
spoken of by Isaiah, which was the subject of interest to all 
writers and was one of the most prominent features in the 
gospel of Christ, and they were at that time hastily prepar- 
ing for it. James (ch. 5) speaks of the coming of the Lord 
drawing nigh, and charges them particularly how to conduct 
themselves. 1 Peter (ch. 1) explains the plan of salvation 



356 Two Thousand Years in Bternitij. 

through Jesus Christ, Who, though foreordained from the 
foundation of the world, ''Vas manifest in these last times 
for you/' 1 John (eh. 2) tells them that they may know 
that Hhe last time'' was upon them by the Antichrist. 

We see in all the writings of the apostles, especiaily to 
the converted Gentiles, an effort to provide them with all 
possible information relative to the second coming of 
Christ, or Son of God, which was the great day of God Al- 
mighty, and the day or time of the great destruction and 
end of the world, as it was also called. For although the 
apostles knew not the time, neither did Jesus, even. when 
filled with the Spirit of the Father; they did know the sore 
trials and temptations that the people of God would be sub- 
jected to, and that it would prove a greater obstacle in the 
way of many of the converted Gentiles than the Hebrews is 
very reasonable, since they had grown up in the belief that 
omnipotence existed in tangible things, in the same manner 
as we to-day have grown up in the confidence in an omnipo- 
tent and invisible God. So it was very necessary to con- 
stantly admonish the converted Gentiles that the power and 
achievements of the Antichrist would be very great and 
hard to withstand; they were also admonished that it was 
during his reign they would be subjected to these great 
afflictions, temptations, and sorrows that Christ spoke of, 
but that at the end of his career the sweeping and marvel- 
ous destruction of not only the king himself, but his fol- 
lowers, together with all other wonderful events which had 
been foretold by the prophets, and Christ would, when the 
end came, stablish them immovably in a Imowledge of the 
Spirit and power of the unsfeen God of heaven. They were 
also told that many would fall back to their original belief, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 357 

and quit the faith in the true God, which was very consist- 
ent with our present mode of reasoning. 

ISTow for the evidence that this great day or the reign 
of Antichrist, and his overwhelming destruction by thei 
Word of God, is that same spoken of by Daniel and John, 
and engaged so closely the attention of all the apostles; 
examine what they say of it, and you will find it strictly ac- 
cords with what was said by all of the prophets relative 
thereto, and especiall}'' Daniel, who was made to understand 
the matter more definitely. I call your attention especially 
to what Paul said of it to the Thessalonians in his second 
Epistle, chapter 2 : "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering to- 
gether unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or 
be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter 
as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.^^ 

You see by the above how earnestly they looked for 
that day, and the apostles seemed to anticipate that when 
the trouble began, letters would be forged as from him, and 
perhaps other apostles, stating that the great day of the 
Lord was at hand, in order to deceive them, and tells them 
of a very important matter by which they might know the 
time had not yet come, as follows: "Let no man deceive 
you by any means; for that day shall not come except there 
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, 
the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself 
above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that 
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself 
that he is God.'' Now it is very clear that Christ and the 
apostles in teaching the people extract their knowledge from 
the prophecies; and hence Paul did in the above instance, 
as in all important events. Christ and the apostles always 



3^8: Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

quote the prophets' declarations. Here he gives DanieFs 
prophecy, chapter 11: ^^And some of them of understand- 
ing shall fall, to try them And the king shall do 

according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and mag- 
nify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous 
things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the in- 
dignation be accomplished : for that that is determined shall 
be done. N'either shall he regard the God of his fathers, 
nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall 
magnify himself above all/' It is plainly seen that all the 
writers spoke of the coming of the Antichrist and his 
Satanic works in a similar manner, and upon examination 
we find they all agree as to the manner of his terrible de- 
struction. Paul in this same letter said: ^Then shall that 
Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the 
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness 
of his coming.'^ Ezekiel (ch. 38) says : "Every mam's sword 
shall be against his brother," etc. Daniel (ch. 8, v. 25) said : 
"He shall be broken without hand," a,nd his terrible de- 
struction was presented to John by the vision in the fol- 
lowing manner (Revelation, ch. 20) : "And they went up on 
the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the 
saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from 
God out of heaven, and devoured them." 

This great destruction and the manner of its execution 
was to prove to the people of God that sin and iniquity with 
all unrighteousness would ever be a fire for its own con- 
sumption, to give place to the growth and extension of truth 
and righteousness in this new world. 

This was also the terrible judgment of God Almighty 
accompanied by the resurrection of the dead; and while 
that work was a part to be performed in heaven at the same 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 35^ 

time that this great work was going on upon the earth, they 
were so intently looking for it that some said it had already 
passed, as is stated in 2 Timothy, chapter 2; he speaks of 
Hymenens and Philetns, 'Vho concerning the truth have 
erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and over- 
threw the faith of some." We do not know to what extent 
those living in the body did witness this resurrection: 'there 
can be no doubt, however, that they had sufficient evidence 
to establish in them a knowledge that it had been fully 
consummated according to the prophetic account: indeed, 
the many events that transpired on the earth as they were 
foretold in prophec}^ even of all things pertaining to the 
earth, was good evidence of itself that the work among the 
spirits was also performed as was declared by the mouth 
of the holy prophets. Indeed, the Scriptures would be a 
mass of inconsistencies if the resurrection with all other im- 
portant acts spoken of in prophecy had not transpired, full 
and complete, in those days. 

But turn to Galatians, chapter 4, and while you read 
remember my idea deduced from the Scriptures, that when 
man's intelligence w^as sufficiently developed to enable him 
to comprehend a spiritual worship and understand a spirit- 
ual influence, at which time heathenism also reached its 
acm.e and was to be destroyed, and the Spirit and laws of 
God written in the hearts of all men w^ho accepted Christ, 
or believed in the God of heaven through Him. This was 
the time of the fullness of the Gentiles, and the breaking 
down of the heathen powers over the Christian people was 
the contemplated destruction of the world. Subsequent to 
that time those who believed in the God of heaven had His 
Spirit to guide and command them, as we have this day: 
and what better do we wish? or where is the excuse for do- 



360 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

ing wrong? Tliis was the time when the world was but just 
established properly under command of the Spirit of God, 
and from that time the process of purging and cleansing the 
earth and mankind goes on. Read this entire chapter, but 
especially from verse 1 to verse 7, where the apostle speaks 
of the former ignorance of man, indicating, as 1 have said 
before, that man was being prepared for the Tree of Life. 
He says: "The heir, as long as he is a child, diifereth noth^ 
ing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under 
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under 
the elem-cnts of the world : but when the fullness of the time 
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a womian, made 
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
that we might receive the adoption of sons." And it was at 
this age that the Christian people, all who acknowledged 
the power of God through Jesus Christ, were raised to the 
exalted position of sons of God, by the intellectual reason 
and Spirit of Eternal Truth in their hearts. This seems 
plain and harmonious with all of the Scriptures, which do 
most beautifully unfold. 

Before concluding this subject, let us turn to the let- 
ter written to the Hebrews, to whom the apostles spake 
differently, since they understood the requirements of the 
law, while the Gentiles did not, and hence the two systems 
were contrasted before them. In chapter 1, after the writer 
reminds them of God's former method of speaking to man 
through His holy prophets, he said: "He hath in these last 
days spoken unto us by his son,'*' etc., and continues to ad- 
monish them of the great necessity of being ready, since it 
was to be a final reckoning of all things in heaven and on 
the earth; and in chapter 10 he tells them to "exhort one an- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 361 

other, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." 
Eead now, I entreat yon, chapter 9, and study it care- 
fully in every part, for I can assure you it speaks volumes. 
In it you see there is about to take place the greatest and 
most important change in man that he was ever to experi- 
ence in all his history upon the earth, and was or had been 
prefigured by the Tabernacle and Temple and all things 
therein, as well as the mode of service; not that they under- 
stood the meaning of it in that day, for they did not in full : 
but, as I said on former pages of this work, they were only 
capable of working by pattern ; therefore this mode of serv- 
ice was given them, for it wholly saitisfied their minds and 
filled the measure of their most exalted appreciation of the 
service of the God of heaven; and you will please observe 
that it was all carried on vrithin the Temple, as the spirit- 
ual service is wholly conducted within the body and heart 
of man to-day; and did prefigure the real things which were 
to come after, when they would be able to stand in the 
blaze of Eternal Light and look back with great admira- 
tion upon the various emblems seen in the Temple, and un- 
derstand their beautiful applications, as it is our privilege 
to-day. Some of these emblems they could not understand 
at the time this letter was written, because they had not 
been introduced on the earth in their reality: such, for ex- 
ample were the cherubims, which were yet to be presented 
in flesh and blood, and fill a most important office in the last 
days of the indignation: and hence the writer very appro- 
priately said of them, "We cannot now speak particularly," 
but goes on to explain the things which had been presented 
in their reality; the especial ones to which this chapter is 
devoted are the office of the high priest and the annual sac- 
riiiee "for himself and the errors of the people." 



362 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

I will quote from this chapter after referring to the 
previous one, in which he speaks of the new covenant which 
was to be established at the end of that world, and con- 
firmed in the great day of Grod Almighty, by which this 
world is to be operated. Paul quotes from Jeremiah, and 
said by way of explanation to them that they might under- 
stand that this new system was to take the place of the old, 
whereby all church ordinances and formal service of God 
was to be done away: ^^Behold the days come, saith the 
Jjord, when 1 Avill make a new covenant with the house of 
Israel and with the house of Judali: not according to the 
covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day when 
I took them by the hand to leaid them out of the land of 
Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I 
regarded them not, saith the Lord/' (You see here that 
Paul uses no quotation marks to show his own language 
from that of Jeremiah, neither does he tell the people that 
he speaks the' words of the prophet.) The first covenant 
was an imperfect one, as it necessitated man to do some- 
thing with hands in the performance of its requirements, 
and it evidently was Gcd's original design to institute a 
plan by which each individual ^\'ould be a tabernacle his in- 
dividual self, and not need the priest in any part of the per- 
formance of his duty to God. Jeremiah then says (which 
Paul here gives): ^'For this is the covenant that I will 
make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the 
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them 
in their hearts : and I will be to them a God, and they shall 
be to me a people; and they shall not teach every man his 
neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord : 
for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.^' N"ow 
I ask you, Is not this covenant established, and in operation 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

among call the enlightened nations of the earth to-day ? I 
do not mean simply in the (so-called) churches: but I do 
mean all intelligent people of the world who sprang from 
them who turned away from heathenism in the day of sal- 
vation, and now know that the true God is a spirit and in- 
fluences all things. Then he speaks of the first covenant be- 
ing old in the following manner: "In that he saith, A new 
covenant, he hath made the first old. Xow that which de- 
cayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.'^ This new 
covenant was to be: and evidently was established and put 
in operation at the second advent of the Word of God, and 
the old one, with any and all kitd of church ordinances, 
has been folded up and laid away two thousand years ago. 
Now we come to chapter 9: "Then verily the first covenant 
had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanct- 
uary.'' Now can you not see that it is not necessary to 
build houses to worship God in, to-day? Paul was trying 
to teach them this. Eor the body of man is the temple, of 
God. Is it not plain to you yet ? "For there was a taber- 
nacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the 
table, and the shew-bread; which is called the sanctuary. 
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called 
the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the axk 
of the covenant overlaid round about with yold, wherein 
was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that 
budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cher- 
ubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we can- 
not now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus 
ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, 
accomplishing the service of God. But into the second 
went the high priest alone once every year, not without 
blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the 



364 Two Thousand ^ears in Eternity. 

people. The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into 
the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the 
first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for 
the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and 
sacrifices,^^ [As I have told yon, that the body of man is 
the tabernacle, and that no one could become perfect while 
required to do any kind of formal service, and the apostle 
is trying to make them understand; though to us it seems 
a rather bungling effort.] "that could not make him that 
did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 
which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers .washings 
and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of 
reformation. But Christ being come a high priest of good 
things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, 
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building ; 
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own 
blood he entered in once into the holy place, having ob- 
tained eternal redemption for us It was there- 
fore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens 
should be purified with these; but the heavenly things them- 
selves with better sacrifices than these.^^ 

Kow you understand the requirements of the old Mosaic 
law, how that at the end of each year the high priest did 
enter into the holy place with blood for the sins of the peo- 
ple — only once in the year, 2Jidi alone. Please examine this 
chapter well, and see hoAv careful the writer is in explain- 
ing how Jesus the Christ, instead of the high priest who 
served in the Temple, entered not into the holy place of the 
Temple, but into leaven and in the presence of God, and 
also like the high priest He went in alone. His own body 
furnishing the blood of purification. Before calling your 
attention to verses 24, 25, and 26, I ask that you refresh 



^wo Thousand Years in Eternity. S65 

your mind as to what I have said relative to the prepara- 
tion of man for the Tree of Life, and that it would have 
heen useless to introduce the Messiah before man's intelli- 
gence was sufficient to comprehend His teaching and appre- 
ciate a spiritual service; and that now the body of man is 
prepared as the temple of God by virtue of the intellectual 
development, vested with the Truth. The object would not 
have been accomplished — the reign of God on the earth by 
His Spirit in the hearts of men would not have been es- 
tablished, and a second advent or more of the Word of God 
in the flesh would have been necessary; but the wisdom of 
God brought him forth at the proper time, to establish the 
world under the rule of the Spirit, as was intended from 
the beginning. Hence the spirits in prison, or hell (shall 
I say?), awaited His coming; after which came the judg- 
ment, and "death and hell wotq cast into the lake of fire,'' 
and Jesus suffered once in the end of this great temporal 
period of man, and by thus once being offered. He opened 
up a way by which all who then lived on the earth, or had 
lived prior to His coming, might know the Father and un- 
derstand the operations and requirement^ of the true God. 
This was the fountain spoken of by Zechariah (chapter 13) 
as follows: "In that day" [meaning the day of His visi- 
tation, when heathenism was to be torn down and the king- 
dom of God established] "there shall be a fountain opened 
to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in 
iliat day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the 
names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more 
be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the 
unclean spirits to pass out of the land." Now can you not 
see that this knowledge of the true God above mentioned 



366 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

is the redemption and salvation ? Certainly it is, and by the 
aid of His Spirit of Truth, which was placed in the hearts 
of men in that day, we are able to go on learning more and 
yet more of that great and eternal God of the universe. 
Man must have a knowledge of his Creator and his opera- 
tions ; otherwise his spirit must wander on and on in an 
eternal desert of darkness, until perhaps it waste away, lit- 
tle by little, and finally perish when the recollection of tem- 
poral and perishable things is obliterated from its being. 
This, alas! must be the "second death.^^ Ah, it really is! 
and doleful and appalling as it is> this awful death begins 
with man while he is yet in the flesh, by following and try- 
ing in vain to satisfy the lusts thereof; while he who fol- 
lows God^s Spirit of Truth in this state will, when the body 
fails, live on without anything like death, or even sleep; but 
the spirit Avill return to God who gave it. 

But let us go back to our subject and examine from 
verse 24 and see if it does not wholly agree with what we 
have said. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places 
made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but 
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for 
us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high 
priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of 
others; for then must he often have suffered since the foun- 
dation of the world." 

Now pause here and examine the above closely. Do 
you not see in it portrayed the ideas I have extracted from 
the body of the Scriptures ? Why was the coming of the Mes- 
siah delayed so long ? Was it not for a preparation of man ? 
If so, was it a physical or an intellectual preparation? You 
certainly agree with me that it was the latter; therefore, 
when man was ready, and all the world fully prepared ac- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 367 

cording to God's plans, the Word was clothed in flesh, thait 
man could better understand the teaching, and sent into the 
world as the medium through which the human, family was 
introduced to the God of heaven, and that eternal principle 
in the heart of man thus caused to germinate, and he be- 
came immortal. Here it was the patterns began to be dis- 
pensed with, and their places filled with the real, existing 
things. Christ was the real sacrifice, and we, like Him, have 
the privilege of the real Spirit of the Father, which makes 
us dead to the law because it is our guide and governor by 
which we are kept at all points wholly within its pale. Now 
all old things must pass away : the world at this period, be- 
ginning to ^'wax old as doth a garment," was laid away; all 
things became new, aind man's eternal existence began. Yes, 
eternity, never-ending eternity, dated its existence at the 
beginning of this new era, and time with us has forever 
ceased. Thus we may be able to understand all the mys- 
teries of the past, and view the more comprehensible des- 
tinies of the future. The veil between us and God is made 
more permeable to our sight; and the mere disorganization 
of flesh and blood becomes a trivial matter : it is not death ; 
it is not worthy the name of death; neither is it sleep; but 
he who follows that Eternal Spirit of Truth, regardless of 
the teaching of men, will fill his place on earth according to 
the will of God, and come forth from the filthy, lifeless 
body a beautiful and happy winged spirit, flitting along 
through the never-ending flowery scenes, made bright and 
genial by the smiles of a satisfied God. And now that this 
was the end of the second great period of man, and with 
it terminated the world that then was in accordance with 
the designs of God, I think you will agree, when you care- 
fully consider the latter clause of verse 26, as follows : "But 



368 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself/' What disposition do 
you make of this paragraph? I can never consent to any 
other than its literal meaning in every part — nothing miore, 
and nothing less_, than that His coming was a beginning of 
the great preparation for the end of the world — the end of 
time, with man, and this end was at the time when Jeru- 
salem and the cities of the nations fell to ruins, by the power 
of the mighty earthquake which John foresaw, of which he 
did forewarn all the servants of God. This was the time 
of the consummation of all things written, when the wine- 
press of Almighty God was trod, and the earth washed with 
the blood of the slain: however much to the contrary may 
be the declarations of profane history — ^they are obstacles 
in the way of the understanding of the children of God. 
It is impossible to so connect dates, periods, and events of 
antiquity as to do away with doubt, and establish any foun- 
dation upon which you can build a proper knowledge of 
God — it cannot be. I am forced by the Spirit of Truth in 
me to say, in justice to the declarations of the Bible, though 
air the world be against me, that then eternity began with 
man, and now there is no more death, no more resurrection: 
good and evil are placed in man^s heart (except the heath- 
en), so that it is unmistakable to his understanding, no mat- 
ter what his condition in life, his circumstances or learning; 
and he has the power to follow the One on down into the 
bottomless pit or lake of fire: or, on the other hand, to fol- 
low the Spirit of Truth and good onward and upward to 
God, and in His glorious and eternal light. To put any 
other construction upon the foregoing paragraph destroys 
the harmony of the Scriptures, casts about them a shroud of 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 369 

mist, creates doubt and makes skeptics of many intelligent 
and educated men and women. 

I now add one more suggestion in the close of this 
chapter, as follows: Miracles passed away with those days 
of preparation; and we are told by the beloved Daniel that 
in that great day of God the vision and prophecy, which was 
previously for the nation^s guide, would be sealed up : and I 
can but say that it is even so as the prophet declared. The 
same man of God also said, by the authority of the angel 
Gabriel, sent to him from the throne of Deit}^, that in the 
midst of the last week of this reign of terror (which could 
not consistently be looked upon as a period longer than 
seven years) the daily sacrifice would be taken away; and 
although the vision continued perhaps for a time thereafter, 
I ask you. Where is the daily sacrifice to-day? Alas! alas for 
the (so-called) Jew! it has been taken away; the city has 
been destroyed ; and there is no temple nor sanctuary. (Dan- 
iel, ch. 9, V. 26, and Eevelation, chs. 21 and 22.) Nay, but 
this is true — the Bible is all true; and to me its connections 
are briUiant and beautiful. The objects as shown in it have 
certainly been accomplished in a most admirable manner, 
when viewed in the light of a record of the operations of 
God, in bringing man to a knowledge of his Creator, and 
placing within him the Spirit of Truth, and intelligence, 
by which each individual must be guided, if he perform his 
part of the work of carrying out the great designs of the 
Architect of the universe. 

Thus we can understand the operations of God with 
man by that same system of intelligence and reason he gave 
us to understand all things else; and it enables us to ap- 
proach Him with most perfect confidence, knowing at all 
times whether we please Him in the slightest action, word. 



•S^b fwo Thousa7id Years in Eternity. 

or even in thought. By it we can also understand how the 
world will be purified and the will of God "be done on earth 
even as it is done in heaven."* And from any "other stand- 
point the Scriptures certainly are rendered contradictory 
and ambiguous. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 371 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The New Covenant. 

We now come to consider the ISTew Covenant and its re- 
quirements, as well as its opera,tions upon man; and in so 
doing please keep the mind's eye steadily on the three great 
periods of man on the earth: the Animal, the Intellectual, 
and the Eternal; presided over by the three divisions of the 
Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The 
first being the time when man was governed almost if not 
altogether instinctively; the second, when he could under- 
stand material things and was governed by the Word or 
commanded, and did actual service by order — or rather, the 
mode of worship was by certain defined acts; and the third 
or present period of sufficient, intellectual development to 
understand the different spirits that exist within and prompt 
the various actions of man: during which time he is re- 
quired to do a spiritual service, or to act out the mandates 
of the Spirit of God within him, to the abolition of all fixed 
rules or modes of worship, ceremony, ordinances, and rit- 
ualism; and each individual placed upon a basis of direct 
personal responsibility to God; Who during this entire pe- 
riod, though it last forever, will command and instruct man 
in all of his duties by the Spirit of Truth in each heart. It 
was at the begijining of this third period that the New Cove- ' 
nant was made and confirmed with man, the sign thereof 
being circumcision in the heart, of which no human can 
possibly judge, "whose praise is not of men, but of God"; 
which being the case, it is plainly seen that God has taken 



372 Two Thousand Years in Bternity. 

the whole matter into His own hands with'eaich individual^ 
leaving nothing to men save to judge of and administer the 
law^s of the land: so that as long as an individual keeps 
wholly within the pale of the civil law, it is ahsurd for any 
man or set of men to Judge of his relation to the Creator. 
This is impossible, for the very act of judging distracts our 
attention from our own heart, and we are guilty of offenses 
for which the delicate spirit of charity at once condemns 
us. "Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever 
thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou 
condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the saane 
things." (Eomans, ch. 2.) Eead all of this chapter in re- 
gard to spiritual service or obedience to the Spirit of G-od 
and reason within us, and we certainly cannot fail to see 
and understand the beauty and perfection of the system. I 
give you a part of this chapter for your consideration as you 
reflect upon what I say: "For there is no respect of per- 
sons with God. For as many as have sinned without law 
shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned 
in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers 
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law 
shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not 
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, 
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves : which 
shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean 
while accusing or else excusing one another;) in the day 
when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ 
according to my gospel. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and 
restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God," [Here let 
your mind revert to members of the (so-called) churches of 
to-day who perform stipulated service^] "and knowest his 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 373 

will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, be- 
ing instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou 
thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are 
in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, 
which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the 
law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou 
not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, 
dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit 
adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest 
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? tliou that mahest thy hoast 
of the law, through hreahing the law dishonorest thou God? 
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles 

through you, as it is written For he is not a 

Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, 
which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one 
inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, 
and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of 
God." Each individual carries in his own heart a separate 
code of laws, given to him by the Creator, which is so per- 
fect as to render a full and satisfactory decision upon the 
actions of every moment through life; even from the time 
he emerges from the commands of his own earthly father, 
he at once receives the commands from God, and has the 
power to obey them and have peace: or disobey and take 
the consequent evil results here and hereafter. This ap- 
plies to all who believe in God, and that Jesus was the me- 
dium through which man's intellectual reason was pointed to 
the God who made him; but the heathen of to-day must for- 
ever perish, because he, like the five foolish virgins, was 
not ready to enter in with the Bridegroom at His coming; 
and hence he comes under the condemnation of him that is 
filthy: '-'Let him be filthv still/' There are no more mir- 



374 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

acles to convince the nations of the power of the unseen 
Grod; for the two olive trees have emptied their golden oil 
through the golden pipes into the golden bowl; and while 
the light did shine in a material manner, with all of its re- 
fulgence, they might have received in their hearts also a 
flame to light their pathway forever, and they would not; 
abd now there is no more sacrifice for sin. We see in He- 
brews, chapter 6, that even those who were converted and 
baptized, and thus brought out from under the law or from 
the heathen ranks^ were exhorted to go on to perfection 
and leave the principles of the doctrines of Christ, and it 
said plainly,^if they went back into heathenism, that it would 
be impossille to restore theml to faith in God, because they 
thus destroy Christ in their own hearts. Who was the only 
medium between God and man, and there was none other 
under heaven could teach by example. In verses 4, 5, and 6 
the apostle said: "'For it is impossible for those who were 
once enlightened, and have tasted of the heaivenly gift, and 
were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted 
the good word of God, and the power of the world to come, 
if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentancei." 
aSow ^'ihe sin of the world'^ was evidently the forget- 
ting of the true God, which resulted in heathen darkness, 
land the Hebrews were like all other heathen as regards a 
spiritual knowledge of God^ or a knowledge that the spirit 
within us is the true God and the power, and hence their 
works under the law were dead; and the works of Christ 
and the apostles, in accordance with prophecy, were to con- 
vince both Jew and Gentile of the power of the Spirit of 
God and bring them out of darkness. This was the enlight- 
enment spoken of in verse 4 — that is, brought out of heath- 
m (darkness, and is the enlightenment of to-day, Qntsi4e th^ 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 375 

heathen world; and is it not clear to our intelligent reason 
that if we (30iild now forget God and accept the benighted 
faith in a heathen god, or the works of the law, which is 
equally profitless, that it would be impossible to convince us 
of the power of the Spirit without a repetition of those evi- 
dences which did so firmly establish the faith in the hearts 
of all those who sufi'ered the persecutions without recant- 
ing ? Since these miracles were not to be kept up through 
all the future ages of the world, there was lio possible hope 
for any except those who believed under their influence, and 
held the faith through all the trials to the end, and their 
offspring; and we are told in the Scriptures that there 
would be a great falling away before the end came, which of 
course was because of the great power the Antichrist and 
all heathen possessed against the Christian faith. This 
falling away, however, Avas not among the elect, who were 
chosen to make '^'the foundation of God sure^'; for they re- 
mained unsliahen. Those, therefore, who did not embrace 
the faith during this period preparatory for the coming 
kingdom with all those who did, and afterward fell away 
into the heathen belief again, were evidently hopelessly 
lost. 

N'ow there is no one among enlightened people that 
would dare to say anything else than that the whole Chris- 
tian nation has long since passed from under the law; I 
mean not only the Mosaic law, hut any other law written on 
paper or parchment, stone, or any other visible material; 
and that we are expected in this age of the world to go on 
improving intellectually and morally. And if I have not 
before, I now state that it is an impossibility for any man 
or mind to become perfectly pure so long as there is in it' 
a knowledge of the possibility of committing unrighteous 



376 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

acts or sin, or entertaining a recollection of former sins of 
the world; and this position is correct, and no mental phil- 
osopher in the world to-day will say otherwise. And we are 
commanded to go on to perfection; and this is one reason 
why I take the position that" the day will come in the his- 
tory of the world when all ancient classics and their writ- 
ings will be blotted out and destroyed from material or 
mental existence, even the Bible itself. And that all ordi- 
nances, such as baptism, the Lord's snpper, the laying on of 
hands, or any other practiced by any organization styling 
themselves "Church,'* must and will be abolished: for they 
constantly keep ns reminded of and teach the rising gen^ 
eraition that sin, with all its horrible, base, and prostituting 
results, once existed in the world, and that those results are 
possible yet; and so long as a knowledge of their possibility 
exists in the mind of a people,,just so long will their debas- 
ing effects be felt, and the Scriptures contain much sup- 
port to this position. I will give you one instance only here, 
recorded in Hebrews, chapter 10: "For the law having a 
shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of 
the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered 
year by year continually make the comers thereunto per- 
fect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? 
because that the worshipers once purged should have had 
no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is 
a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is 
not possible that the blood of bulls aind of goats should take 
away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he 
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body 
hast thou prepared me : in burnt offerings for sin thou hast 
had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, 
God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 377 

burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, nei- 
ther hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 
then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, God. He taketh 
away the first, that he may establish the second.'^ Now 
can you not see plain enough that the worship of Grod con- 
sists simply in doing what we according to our several capac- 
ities know to be right according to the Truth "within us 
from early childhood on; wholly without any system, form, 
or ceremony taught and practiced by men? It is so plain 
that a fool can perform the service as correctly as any one; 
and verse 16 is certainly enough to prove this, as we have 
long since passed those days. "This is the covenant that I 
will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will 
put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds ivill I write 
them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no 
more.^^ 

In verses 25, 26, and 27 we see they were preparing for 
those days and the establishing of this ISTew Covenant with 
men. After charging them to assemble themselves together 
and exhort each other as they see the day of reckoning ap- 
proaching and the day of salvation drawing to a close, which 
was for the purpose of strengthening their faith that they 
might be firm in the day of trial, the apostle said : "For if 
we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge 
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 
but a certain fearful looking for of judgment amd fiery in- 
indignation, Avhich shall devour the adversaries. He that 
despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three 
witnesses : of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall 
he be thought worth}', who hath trodden under foot the 
Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, 
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done 



378 Two Tliousand Years in Eternity, 

despite unto the Spirit of grace?" This 3^ou certainly can 
understand as the unpardonable sin, or ^^sin against the 
Holy Ghost": which would leave man in the same benighted 
condition as before, and it is a most rational conclusion that 
if ho believe not Jesus the Christ with all of His miraculous 
work, and God was not willing to send another to be thus 
cruelly murdered, it would be impossible to ever extricate 
him from liis lost condition, or, in other words, to make him 
understand that it was the omnipotent God who placed that 
Spirit of Truth and righteousness in his heart. 

In John's first Epistle (chapter 5), he shows a differ- 
ence between the sin against the Holy Ghost and the ordi- 
nary transgression of the law written in the heart. He says, 
^'There is a sin unto death"; and further, "I do not say 
that he" [his brother] ''shall pray for it." In verse 17 he 
says, "All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not 
unto death." Xow it does seem to me that the apostle ha,s 
spoken plain enough in regard to this matter, although they 
did not express themselves in those days as we do now. It 
is generally agreed that the fall of Adam bTought death; 
aiid that death wais produced by forgetting God; and Jesus 
as the Christ brought life by connecting man's intelligence 
and reason -wdth the God of heaven; and if any man reject 
him as the connecting link, and refuse the Spirit with which 
He operated as being the Spirit of God, then of course he 
is a heathen for whom God will never again send a sacrifice, 
or, in other words. He will never send another teacher 
to be cruelly treated as was Jesus. The apostle tried to 
show them that to retrograde into their former condition 
w^ould produce death without any possible remedy; and on 
the other hand, while their peace and happiness would be 
destroyed by imrighteous tr^msgressions, they would not 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 379 

necessarily die, but were pardonable and remediable so long 
as they have the Spirit of God in their hearts. It was by 
teaching man the trne God that Christ made an end of sin, 
and we are to continue to improve by that Eternal Spirit 
given us until all unrighteousness be swept from off the 
earth. 

Now at this point I wish to call your attention to the 
words "knowledge of the truth," and the manner of its use 
in Hebrews, ch. 10, v. 26, also ch. 6, v. 4; in the one he says:' 
"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the 
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice 
for sins'^; in the other he said: "For it is impossible for 
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the 
heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. 

If they shall fall away, to renew them again 

unto repentance." In the above the apostle speaks of the 
same thing in both places, and in the latter he uses the 
words ^TEoly Ghost." Please bea-r in mind that the Script- 
ures teach that God is Truth; and the Holy Ghost is the 
Spirit of God or "Spirit of Truth," and you can easily de- 
termine the truth of this by referring to St. John, chapters 
14 and 15; please read and observe the connection. Christ 
said to thern, "I will pray the Father, and he shail give you 
another Comforter, that he may abide mth you for ever; 
even the Spirit of Truth." In the last chapter (15, v. 26) 
He is more explicit, and said: "But when the Comforter 
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even 
the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, lie 
shall testify of me": and observe the pronoun ^lie" is used 
in speaking of this Spirit. There cannot possibly be any dif-^ 
ference between the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, the 
Coroforte]-, and the Spirit of Truth; they are nothing more- 



380 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

nor less than God: tliere is tut one God, and God is Truths 
and T care not who you may be in the Christian world to- 
day^ you can discern that Spirit within your heart or un- 
derstanding and comprehend its operations, from the least 
to the greatest, and this is true except you be a profound 
infidel, and do not recognize the truth as the productive 
power in anything. All others, however, from him who 
stands upon the topmost round of all intellectual acquire- 
ments on down to the most ignorant human being in the 
Christian world, eax3h for himself; but neither one can teiach 
the other. While the educated and refined men and women 
of the enlightened world reasonably should and do have- the 
power to draw a much more delicate line of demarkation 
between good and evil than the man or woman who toils 
daily under the heavy burden of poverty, privation, and 
great ignorance, nevertheless the latter is just as capable 
of knowing whether his or her actions are prompted by an 
honest desire to obey the Spirit of Truth in their hearts and 
please the Creator as the former. The only difference I can 
see made by the God of heaven is to the effect that the 
great weight of responsibility is placed on the shoulders of 
the man or woman of knowledge: for you will find some- 
where in the writings of St. Luke it is said that "unto whom- 
soever much is given, of them shall be much required." Let 
us therefore attend closely to our individual duties; for I 
think that each will have all that he or she can do to come 
up to the standard of God's requirements, without trying 
to rectify discrepancies in their neighbor's heart or actions. 
One in the low position in life has the same opportunity to 
know his duty to God as he who occupies the high, for both 
have the same teacher, even the Spirit of God; and it is 
equally absurd to suppose that the latter can teach the for- 



Tivo Thousand Years in ]JJternUy. 3Bl 

» 
mer how to render acceptable service, as that the former 
could teach the latter. And while the above are examples 
of the two extremes in life whose duty is vastly different, 
it is certainly true that the great work of the Master is so 
diversified that He does not require two individuals to per- 
form the same part on the stage of action; and since merit 
belongs not to the magnitude nor delicacy of the work, but 
the manner in Avhich the duty is performed, we may find 
that those who walk up and down in the world clad in the 
dingy and tattered garments of poverty and oppressive ig- 
norance, who are deprived of the society of common de- 
cencj', and thus drag out their earthly career, may he the 
bright and shining stars in the spirit land. 

Now those who received this Spirit through faith in 
Jesus as the Christ, and were thus induced to turn away 
from transgression and idolatry at the time of his and the 
apostle^s ministry, and continued steadfast in the faith to 
the end of that bloody struggle, were the redeemed who 
with their offspring were to people the earth at the expense 
of all others; and the ^"'day of salvation,'^ or the only space 
of time given for the living to accept Christ and be adopted 
into the family whose duty was to establish the kingdom un- 
der the New Covenant and people the earth under the guid- 
ance of the Spirit of God, was from the beginning of His 
ministry on down to the time the two olive trees lay dead 
in the streets of the city of Jerusalem. They were the two 
great witnesses of Christ. John certainly was one of them, 
but we will not here suggest who the other was for want of 
time. They were prefigured by the two cherubims ; and when 
their duty was performed and work complete, at the end of 
three years and six months, miracles and wonder-working to 
convince the heathen ceased, and the entire work of filling 



382 Two Tliousand Years in Bternity. 

the earth ^vith the glory of God devolved on those who had 
hitherto heen confirmed in the faith under the New Cove- 
nant^ and their children after them. I do not 'mean that 
their work will consist in converting others of the world 
during subsequent ages; but I do mean that they of the 
Christian faith who survived the destruction and their chil- 
dren will fill the earth, and the heathen become extinct, and 
never be able to comprehend the requirements of the Spirit 
of Truth; for it does not exist in his heart. 

But let us return and view the Scriptures upon this 
subject of the JSTew Covenant. We see that God contem- 
plated establishing the world under a spiritual rule at the 
time this "purpose" against the whole earth was executed; 
and certainly this is so conclusive from the tenor of all the 
Scriptures that I need not call your attention to any partic- 
ular place. But Isaiah, who first had any definite knowl- 
edge of the great consumption in the midst of all the earth, 
also spoke of this, and the New Covenant with man: see 
especially chapter 59, in the latter part, where the opera- 
tion of the Spirit of God in the last dreadful contest against 
Antichrist and his host is spoken of; then said he: "The 
Eedeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from 
transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is 
my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is 
upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, 
shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of 
thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the 
Lord, from henceforth and for ever.'-' 

Now when we contrast this declaration of God with 
what He said to Moses at Mt. Sinai when the law was given 
under the Old Covenant, we see unmistakably a vast dif- 
ference in the intellectual, or mental condition of man at 



Two TJiousand Years in Eternity. BS^ 

that time and when the New and Everlasting Covenant was 
made and confirmed. At this latter period, man's mind was 
sufficiently developed to retain impressions and to reason 
upon principles of truth; which, once planted in the heart, 
might be ignored, but never eradicated. Eead in Deuter- 
onomy, chapter 5, what was said of them at the former time 
when they heard the voice of God on the mount and greatly 
feared, telling Moses to go near and hear what the Lord 
would say, and tell them, and they would obey. The Lord 
heard their words, and sanctioned what they said, but knew 
they would not remember from generation to generation, 
though to them the voice of God was terrible, -for they were 
but little above the animal kingdom, and, like the animal, 
would soon forget the terror of the Lord, on account of 
mental deficiency. In verse 29 he said : "0- that there were 
such an heart in them that they would fear me, and keep 
all my commandments always, that it might be well with 
them, and with their children for ever V' I ask you now. 
What is the heart of man ? Is it not his intellectual being, 
or seat of reason ? I say, from tlie tenor of all the Script- 
ures, that it is unquestionably; and while at the present 
time the standard of intelligence is far above the days when 
the law was given, we are still vastly deficient — really but 
in intellectual childhood. We see further evidence of their 
very low grade of intellect in Deuteronomy, chapter 32. 
Please read this chapter, as it will give you much informa- 
tion as to the "sin of the world" and God's manner of con- 
suming it. Indeed, it is quite sufficient to show to any un- 
prejudiced mind that forgetting God and worshiping idols 
was the "sin,'' and the sword, famine, and pestilence were 
God's agents by which He chastised and destroyed the world. 
And after He spoke of the dreadful destruction they would 



384 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

be subjected to for their idolatry. He said again: "0 that 
they were wise, that they understood this, that they would 
consider their latter end!" Isaiah also declared them to 
be a people of no understanding; but as we look further 
at what was said relative to the New Covenant, we see that 
God contemplated a great improvement in their mental con- 
dition when this last covenant was to be confirmed, and 
that He covenanted with those only who profited by this 
improved intellect and turned away from idolatry and abom- 
inable things. And certainly the time during which this 
covenant was confirmed was limited, and those who did not 
come up to the requirements during that period, or, in other 
words, those who did not accept the faith under the pow- 
erful evidence of miracles, were never to be admitted subse- 
quently; and hence the apostles said to the people, "Noio is 
the accepted time/' "This is the day of salvation,^' etc. 

Ezekiel (chapter 11) said he understood by the vision 
that Israel, or the elect, and those who would turn away 
from abominable things should be gathered together, and the 
Lord God said: "I Aviil give them one heart, and I will put 
a new spirit within you : and I will take the stony heart out 
of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh : that they 
may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do 
them : and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their 
detestable things and their abomination, I will recompense 
their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God." This 
was the manner of Ezekiel's understanding and expressing 
himself, which means, as any man can understand, that they 
would by that time ("those days") emerge sufficiently from 
their condition of brutality, and by their improved condi- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 385 

tion coTild begin to reason to some extent, and nnderstamd 
that God was a spirit, and not material. 

]^ow this covenant under which we live was first con- 
firmed with the elect of God, who had been reserved for 
the purpose of establishing the kipigdom, together with 
those who did turn away from abominable things and held 
out faithful to the end of the great struggle and destruc- 
tion, at which time miracles, visions, prophecies^ and all 
means by which this covenant was or could be confirmed in 
the hearts of men passed away and were numbered with the 
things that v,^ould never be again; and hence no more can 
ever be admitted to this compact from the heathen ranks, 
even for ever. But the elect of God during those days of 
sore trial and painful torture were supported by the Spirit 
and angels of Almighty God, as was Jesus, that they might 
not fall, but steadily, and with the certainty of the Creator 
himself, bear aloft the banner of salvation, and plant it be- 
yond the bloody chasm, on the shores of a new world. This 
was the purpose of the elect, the object for which they were 
reserved and supported by the right hand of God: other- 
wise it would have been utterly impossible for them to have 
withstood the terrific and withering forces that were brought 
to beair against them. And while the Scriptures contain 
much testimony in support of the fact, that the elect were 
invincible, look and see what Christ said relative to them 
in the days of trial and destruction. Matthew, chapter 24: 
"Except those days should be shortened, there should no 
flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be 
shortened. .... For there shall arise false Christs, 
and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders ; 
insomuch that, if it were possiNe, they shall deceive the 
very elect.'' In this we find strong corroborative testimony 



386 Two TTiousand Years in Eternity. 



supporting the tenor of the Scriptures, that there were a 
certain number chosen' of God to make the work sure and 
triumphant over all of the powers of the coml)ined world, 
and establish the kingdom of heaven under the New Cove- 
nant; from which time God's government is carried on 
through the operation of His Spirit in the hearts of individ- 
uals, and in like manner is His worship conducted. 

Jeremiah (chapter 32) speaks of the preparation for the 
Xew Covenant in a similar manner: "And I will give them 
one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever for 
the good of them, and of their children after them: and I 
will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not 
turn away from them to do theml good; but I will put my 
fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.^' 
And so it is to-day in the Christian world when any man is 
put to the test, the fear of the unseen God is found in his 
heart, very unlike the animal or heathen kingdom; and this 
is the provision of God by which He governs the intellect- 
ual beings of His creation. 

Turn now to chapter 31, and examine for yourself the 
manner in which God made the covenant with man, and its 
operations. It seems from the Scriptures here, as well as 
in the book of Ezekiel, that there was a proverb in Israel 
in common use; that ''The father ate a sour grape, and the 
children's teeth are set on edge" ; from which, together with 
other statements in this chapter, we extract the idea that 
individual, responsibility was shifted from one to another, 
and from each succeeding generation back upon the pre- 
ceding one, or that imperfect acts were laid to pernicious 
example or false teaching. But in those days, when men 
had very imperfect knowledge, or we may say were almost 
destitute of reasoning faculties, it was necessary that the 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 38*7 

masses of the people be taught by men especia)tty versed in 
the law, who did dictate their actions to a greater or less 
extent, and since nothing is perfect as a teacher except God, 
we see the great and grievous imperfection of that system. 
But they could not accept God as their direct teacher, until 
elevated to a point in the scale of intelligence at which they 
could comprehend His KSpirit; while under the present sys- 
tem, which is to perfect man in the performance of his du- 
ties to God, there is but one teacher, even the Spirit of 
Truth: and hence each individual is directly responsible for 
his own acts, and can not be taught his duty by another im- 
perfect being; and with such a spirit in our hearts, we must 
suffer the consequences if we allow ourselves swerved or led 
by the precepts of riien to do that which our own intelli- . 
gence re\olts at or our conscience condemns. 

The Lord God declares the covenant through his proph- 
et Jeremiah, as follows: "In those days they shall say no 
more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the chil- 
dren's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his 
own iniquity; every man that eateth the sour grape, his 
teeth shall be set on edge. Behold the days come, saith 
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house 
of Israel, and with the house of Jttdah: not according to 
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that 
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of 
Egypt; .... but this shall be the covenant that I will 
make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the 
Lord, I will put my law in their inward pairts, and write it 
in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my 
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neigh- 
bour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: 
for they ^all all know me, from the least of them unto the 



388 Two Thousand Tears in Bternity. 

greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their 
iniquity, and I will remeniber their sin no more/' I gave 
you Paul's quotation of this language on former pages of 
this work, which gives the word "mind'' instead of "in- 
ward parts," and you cannot conclude otherwise than that 
every man is required to think and act for himself, and that 
henceforth he can never find God's law for his government 
written on any tangible substance, neither must he listen to 
any living teacher as to his duties to God. 

Now the sin spoken of was forgetting God and seeking 
omnipotence in tangible things, undoubtedly; and as soon 
as man became acquainted with his Creator again, recon- 
ciliation was made, which was done through Christ and His 
witnesses; and why should their sin be remembered? It 
has been remitted, and surely we will never return to idol- 
atry: and this is what Daniel means by making "an end of 
sins," and certainly the manner of doing this through Christ 
and the apostles is very plain, they being the medium of 
communication which pointed man's mental reasoning to 
the throne of , Omnipotence in the heavens, and thereby took 
away "the sin of the world." Through them also was the 
perfect law of God stanjped in each heart, to be construed 
by each individual according to his intellectual ability and 
circumstances in life; the Spirit of Truth being the plumb, 
square, and level, by which every thought, word, and action 
should be prepared and adjusted, and each one is to suffer 
for his own acts, and not another. 

Now, I am anxious that you look well and carefully at 
this subject, try to ^ead the law written in your own heart, 
and determine if it is not the only im'aginable system by 
which the operations of the world can be perfected; and that 
being the case, do you not at once see how ridiculously ab- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 389 

surd it is for one man to presume to read and construe the 
law written in another man's heari, or teach him his duty 
to God, after he steps within the pale of the civil law? I 
admit that executive officers of the law have the right to 
judge law-breakers; but when man goes beyond this point, 
confusion in the carrying out of the great designs of God is 
invariably the result. Under this new and beautiful system 
inaugurated by the God of heaven for the direct command 
and operation of his subjects on earth, we have yet to learn 
that one of the greatest duties incumbent upon each indi- 
vidu'al is to devote no time nor attention to his neighbor's 
business, but to concentrate all his efforts with renewed en- 
ergy, to attend to his own and accomplish the work assigned 
him by the Architect. 

The great reason why man has not attained to a much 
higher position in the scale of improvement is, that the hu- 
man family have shirked responsibilities, and tried to content 
themselves with the performance of such duties as are dic- 
tated by a set of fallible teachers, who keep them back to 
the first principles, which is positively forbidden in He^ 
brews, chapter 6, as follows: "Therefore leaving the prin- 
ciples of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; 
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead 
works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, 
and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the de'ad, 
a7id of eternal judgment." ISTow, in order for man to attain 
perfection, as he certainly will somewhere in the future of 
the world, it is necessary to obliterate all recollection of the 
sin and wickedness of men of former ages from the mind. 
But would not these ordinances keep the sin of the world 
fresh in our memory? You can not fail to see tha,t they 
would, and that we must become wholly ignorant of sin, or 



390 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

onr minds can never be pure. Were not these the stepping- 
stones by which the heathen were raised above the horrible 
mire in which they toiled under their earthly gods? Was 
not Israel also by these same means relieved of the stupid 
belief that they could be purified by living up to the re- 
quirements of a law which was equally fruitless with the 
heathen faith? But we are not heathen, neither are we 
Jews of the fleshly circumcision, nor are our children, for 
they grow up in the fear of the Lord and strong faith in the 
God of heaven, and even serve Him ofttimes more con- 
scientiously than do those of riper years; and if simply 
urged on in the pathway of the Spirit of Truth, the stand- 
ard of God's people would float high in a purer atmosphere, 
ere many more generations pass away. But what do we 
when they begin to come to what is called "the age of ac- 
countability,^' though they were raised up dutiful and obe- 
dient children? Alas I we take them back again and teach 
them, repentance, and that the only way their young and 
obedient hearts and the sacrifice of their lips may be made 
acceptable to God is through the material and tangible waters 
of baptism, which is dead to-day. And while I write my heart 
swells with emotion, and I am filled with sorrow, because 
the Spirit of God cries out against the stupidity of starting 
each succeeding generation down at the base and founda.- 
tion of the great and glittering pyramid of God's stupend- 
ous designs. These ordinances also keep up a sort of sec- 
tional partition between God's people, and destroy to a great 
extent the harmony and resplendent beauty of His cooper- 
ative system; which will ever be the case so long as we keep 
before us and practice these lifeless works, to which the in- 
telligence of man can never be reconciled. We must draw 
the line of distinction between this and the world and peio- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, • 39.1 

pie to which the Scriptures were addressed. There is no 
more gift of the Holy Ghost, and hence it is stupid to con- 
tinue the ordinance of laying on of hands; and since bap- 
tism was in that day a prerequisite to the giving of the Holy 
Ghost, and that now all have the advantage of that same 
Spirit of God from childhood, as their own guide, and not 
to perform miracles to teach others, you see a,t once that 
baptism also is as lifeless and useless as the laying on of 
hands. 

jSTow T ask you to appeal to that intelligent reason by 
the Spirit of Truth within you, and tell me the decision in 
this case, so softly and so unmistakably whispered to your 
understanding. Ah! it tells you truly that their mission, 
like that of Christ, is ended, that baptism, the Lord's sup- 
per, and the laying on of hands served the purposes for 
which they were intended most admirably, and are now 
folded up and laid away for ever. There was a day in the 
far-distant past when there was mlich virtue in them, ex- 
actly as we see the necessity of the man dipping himself 
seven times in the river Jordan — it showed his faith, and 
the good results accrued from the example of obedience be- 
fore the uncircumcised world; but such results do not fol- 
low at this age, and hence the works are dead. What have 
we to do with the resurrection from the dead? We axe not 
dead, nor by the grace of God will we ever be: else Jesus 
was mistaken in His mission as the Christ. But can you 
not, upon calm reflection and in 'accordance with your own 
reason upon the subject, exclaim in an intelligent manner, 
"Thanks be to God, Who giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Chrisf ' ? 

But perhaps we are getting too far from our subject; 
let lis return and follow it more closely. 



392 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

This covenant is also repeated in tlie book of Hebrews, 
cHapter 8; Paul quotes the prophet.. Mark the language, 
"After those days, saith the Lord.'^ What days ? Evidently 
the days in which the saints were sorely tried and fully es- 
tablished, and the great destruction brought opposing pow- 
ers down within their control, from and after which time 
the law was written in the hearts of men, and nowhere else. 

In verse 13 he said : 'Tor I will be merciful to their 
unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities will I 
remember no more." In the second letter by Peter you 
remember he said they looked "for new heavens and a new 
earth, wherein dwelletli righteousness" We do know that 
true righteousness could not exist under the law nor heathen 
rule, since it is an impossibility for any fixed law to be writ- 
ten out for the government of men by which they may be 
required to render justice and right to their fellow-men, 
without mental reservation or secret evasion according to 
their understanding of the truth of God. This is righteous- 
ness; and we see by the tenor of the Ne^w Testament that 
in so acting with our fellow-men we do acceptable service 
to God. Certainly no one would have the hardihood to say 
that righteousness does not dwell in this earth to-day: for 
it does beyond a doubt, to which almost ever}^ man in the 
Christian nation can testify; but the world is not perfect 
in righteousness: for while it is but reasonable to suppose 
that all men in the enlightened world do perform some 
righteous acts at least, and for aught we know very many, 
our imperfections force us to think that all men as yet ar(^ 
guilty of m.ore or less unrighteousness: and this is the un- 
righteousness which God said He would be merciful to, 
and there is not the least doubt that He will; but when men 
are conscious of an act being unrighteous, they must turn 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 393 

away from it in order to claim a contimiation of that mercy. 

He said, "Their sins and iniquity I will remember no 
more/' Truly idolatry and its consequent crime and iniqui- 
ty or injustice to God is receding, and in the course of 
human events will be blotted out from among men, and 
there could be no rational cause for remembering them. 
Even to-day among the subjects of the :N'ew Covenant na- 
tionally there is no remembrance of their sins and iniquity 
with God, for there are thousands to-day in this enlight- 
ened nation who do not know that our national ancestors 
were heathen: and when it is blotted out of the mind of 
man, it is no more remembered by God; and this is truly 
what is meant Avhen it was said, "Their sins and iniquities 
I will remember no more.'' Here again I must say, as be- 
fore, that man must understand the works of God on the 
earth by that same system of reasoning with which he ob- 
tains a knowledge of ail things else. 

Verse 13 saj^s: "In that he saith, A new covenant, he 
hath made the first old. N"ow that which decay eth and wax- 
eth old is ready to vanish away." The new is an everlast- 
ing covenant, since it is made with the eternal part of man; 
and by his everlasting spirit alone can it be complied with 
in all of its requirements. The first covenant was faulty or 
deficient, as seen in verse 7, since its requirements were 
made known through a written law, which could be com- 
plied with under a mental or spiritual reservation; while in 
the new the requirements are written by the Spirit of God 
in the hearts of men, and in accordance with the circum- 
stances and work to which each individual is assigned, and 
he is held responsible for the manner in which he construes 
that law; and hence, according to his construction, so must 
he act to please God^ and it is by this means the world will 



394 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

be made perfect and filled with the glory of God. The first 
covenaint was imperfect, not because the law itself was not 
good and well adapted to man^s then condition; but the 
fault or imperfection was in man himself, not. having at- 
tained to that age of mental maturity at which his intel- 
lectual powers could be exercised to the control of the phys- 
ical, and fully comprehend the Spirit of Truth within him, 
looking to God as the true source of all mental power; and 
hence, "The law was the school-master to bring us to 
Christ," or, in other words, the means through which our 
intellectual faculties were strengthened and pointed to the 
Spirit-power whereby we partake of the tree of life. 

"Then verily the first covenant had also ordina-nces of 
divine service and a worldly sanctuary." (Hebrews, ch. 9.) 
In this same chapter v/e are taught that these ordinances 
and sanctuary were simply shadows of the real worship of 
God; and there is no possible room to doubt that they were 
expected to pass away with the old covenant; and to-day the 
body of man is the temple of God and his heart is the sanc- 
tuary. And further, though baptism and the laying on of 
hands did not belong to the formal worship under the old 
covenant, they were but the material things through which 
the spiritual was introduced to those with whom the new 
covenant was established; and we can clearly see their util- 
ity at that particular time, since men at that age could not 
comprehend the source aad operation of the Spirit without 
some act on their part; which was more especially to exert 
its influence on those who did not at all believe. And since 
this new covenant was to be confirmed at the expiration 
of the old, as it certainly was, the reign of those latter ordi- 
nances also expired with the old system, which has been 
formally and finally wound up. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 395 

The sacrifice and oblation was taken away, the vision 
and prophecy was sealed np, and I have given you positive 
proof on former pages that this was to be done during the 
days of the "consumption"; therefore the resurrection and 
general judgment has passed, and these latter ordinances 
are no part whatever of our present system of worship, for 
we are to worship God "in spirit and in truth" exclusively; 
and we certainly do grow up in the fear and belief in the 
God of heaven: and why should we keep in remembrance 
those evil days and imperfect things ? We are the offspring 
of the saints, and those who accepted the faith in the days 
of Christ and the apostles, and to enjoy the substance and 
real things which v/ere prefigured by the Temple and all 
things therein. Let us now go on to perfection, seeing that 
all ordinances are wholly worthless; our body is the temple 
of God and the kingdom of heaven within us. Luke (ch. 
17, V. 21) said: "Behold, the kingdom of God is within 
you."*' Flesh and blood cannot enter therein, but it was es- 
tablished am.ong men by the aid of those tangible things; 
and when once established, they are, or should be, forever 
dispensed with; since a further continuance of them stupe- 
fies the mind and fetters the intellect. 

As I said before; our body is the temple of God, and 
the sanctuary is within us; but one can worship at each al- 
tar. 2 Corinthians (ch. 5) says : "Tor we know that if our 
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a 
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens" : and that is the spiritual body with which we will 
be clothed when this flesh and blood decays. Eead on 
through this chapter, and you will see it corroborates what I 
have said. 1 have also said that all those who passed from 
he^-then darkness and the stupidity of the laW;, and their 



396 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

offspring forever, should observe no ordinajices. The lay- 
ing on of hands, most all the Christian world can see the 
fallacy of to-day; and that baptism did accompany it, all 
know who read the Scriptures; and. the two together were 
unquestionably the tangible gate-way for the satisfaction of 
the mind of the elect, and foundation-stones of the king- 
dom in their transit from heathen darkness, or blindness of 
the law, to the intelligent understanding of the operation 
of the Spirit of God, and the two were accompanied by the 
preaching of the gospel of Christ, proven up by miracles: 
and their day is past: and those who believed not then 
surely are lost ; as is said in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4 : "But 
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom 
the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which 
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, 
who is the image of God, should shine unto them.'^ So also 
are those who to-day fall back in the benighted pathway of 
heathenism., if it be possible for any so to do. True enough, 
men may, and doubtless do, set up idols in their hearts with- 
in the present temple of God, and try to shut their eyes and 
understanding to the fact that it is the God of heaven Who 
rules the universe; while at the same time they are conscious 
within them of their false position. This comes under the 
head of unrighteousness; and while all unrighteousness is 
sin, it is not the great sin of the world, for that was the 
"sin unto death'': and Christ or the Son of God was sent 
to take away that sin, by giving man a knowledge of the 
true God; which, if really lost now, can never be restored: 
for Christ satisfied man's intelligent reason once in the be- 
ginning of the eternaJ period, which was sufficient for them, 
and their offspring, from and after that decisive proof was 
given, which will never be presented to man again; and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 397 

hence, if an indiYidual succeed in stamping out all traces 
and every influence of the Spirit of God in his heart, and 
thus in reality drive God away from him, then certainly he 
will have committed the ^'sin unto death" — the "sin against 
the Holy Ghost"; which was given to men in the days of 
the apostles, and no man since then has or ever will have 
the power to give it again, though they baptize and lay their 
hands upon the subjects for ever. And woe to the man 
who succeeds in driving away from his heart a knowledge 
of the true God, so that in reality he cannot raise his mind 
above tangible things, or the inductive reasoning of what 
is called science: for then you can easily understand by com- 
mon reason how his sin would be unpardonable, since there 
is nothing more given under heaven whereby the minds of 
men who do not believe in spiritual power can ever be made 
reconciled to God: and hence they must wander on and on 
for ever, without finding a basis or foundation sufficiently 
firm and lasting on which to build a system of reasoning 
that would reach beyond tangible and perishable things to 
the perfect peace and happiness of his mind, which would 
become exhausted, and finally perish with the perishable 
idol in which he trusted. 

The operation of this new covenant is very well ex- 
plained in Ezekiel, chapter 18, which in substance is as fol- 
lows: that if a man deal honestly with his neighbor and does 
righteously, and walks uprightly in all things, he shall live; 
though he beget a son that lives an unjust life, robs the 
poor, defiles his neighbor's wife and violates the statutes of 
God — ^he shall die, but not live because of his father's right- 
eousness; and on the other hand, if the father be an unjust 
man, he shall die, but the son, if he be just, shall live, and 
not die for his father's sins. "The soul [or person] that sin- 



398 Ttvo TJiousand Tears in Eternity. 

neth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of 
the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the 

son But if the wicked will turn from all his sins 

that he hath committed, -and keep all my statutes, and do 
that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall 
not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they 
shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that 
he hath done he shall live." This shows conclusively that 
all men have the power of turning away from evil, and that 
they R'ill realize the benefits of obeying God — even the bless- 
ing of eternal life; and that the righteous all have equal 
power to turn away and do evil, and that they will certain- 
ly sufl'er the consequences, which is death, if they continue 
to thus do evil. 

Please read this chapter, and examine your own heart, 
and you will clearly understand that the new covena.nt was 
based upon the same principle as the spirit of the law, but 
not the letter; for a stupid obedience to the letter of the 
law, as well as all form and ceremony, blinds and shackles 
the mind and kills the soul; but it is the spirit and purpose 
of all laws and commands of God we are required to search 
out by our intelligence, instructed by the Spirit of Truth, 
and follow it in close obedience^ which is to lead us on and 
up ; higher and yet higher in the resplendent realms of liglit, 
wisdom, and the eternal life of God. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 399 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The New Covenant — Continued. 

T have previously said in substance, that as God knew 
the end of Jlis works on the earth from the beginning, He 
evidently intended man under this new covenant to stand 
upon the elevated platform of intelligence and reason, dur- 
ing this third or eternal period, and look back and under- 
stand the beginning from the end. For certainly Christ did 
solve the mysterious operations of the Father to all who ac- 
cepted Him. under the apostles' preaching, and their chil- 
dren after them; and truly this is so, if we but separate the 
new wholly from the old, dropping olf all figures and for- 
malities — cut loose from our inioorings on the shores of tan- 
gible things, and float out fearlessly on the bosom of the 
great sea of eternal life. 

Eead 2 Corinthians, chapter 3; the apostle said: "Ye 
aire our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all 
men: forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the 
epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but 
with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but 
in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we 
through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of 
ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our suffi- 
ciency is of God ; who also hath made us able ministers of 
the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for 
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the min- 
istration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glo- 
rious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly 



400 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; 
which glory was to be done away^- how shall not the admin- 
istration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" He also says 
he "uses great plainness of speech," since those mysterious 
things were done away and the real things written in the 
hearts of flesh; which is certainly the intelligent under- 
standing of men. He also said they could not understand 
Moses ; "their minds were blinded ; for until this day remain- 
eth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old 
testament; ivJiich veil is done away in Christ.'^ Now whlat 
can this possibly mean, but that the operations under the 
law, the service of the temple and sanctuary, were but shad- 
ows of the real, intellectual service which was to follow at 
a time when their mental developments were sufficient to 
comprehend them: at which time Christ made them mani- 
fest? But so forcible were these patterns on the minds of 
Israel that very many of them would not accept any system 
not presented to their understanding by tangible or visible 
things. 

Paul said at that time (1 Corinthians, ch. 13): "We 
know in part, and we prophesy in part." Now you see at 
once that the work was not finished, but that part of it 
was known to them, and part of it was not. That part which 
had been verified in Jesus and the apostles they knew; but 
the work of proving him to be the Christ or Messiah was 
not yet full and complete at the time the apostle was speak- 
ing; and it was of that pai*t they prophesied. It was evi- 
dent from what he said that the prophecj was not sealed 
up, and we know that the two olive trees or principal wit- 
nesses of Christ were yet to "smite the earth as often as 
they will"; which, together with the terrible slaughter of the 
nations and destructive earthquakes which had been fore- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 401 

told, were to conclude the testimony of the Messiah, eluci- 
date all things, and seal up the vision and prophecy; at 
which time the Messiah, by a full and complete presenta- 
tion of the testimony that made him the perfect Word of 
God, by which the more perfect system under command of 
the Spirit of God was introduced; and hence in verse 10 he 
said: "But when that which is perfect is come, then that 
which is in part shall be done away." Now examine your 
heart closely, and see if you have not that perfect knowl- 
edge of God mthin you, which enables you under all cir- 
cumstances to understand his requirements ajid rest in per- 
fect confidence when you comply with them. It is the per- 
fect Spirit of Truth which presents good and evil before 
every living soul in the Christian world, and stands ready to 
approve the one and condemn the other. But place your- 
self back in those days when Paul wrote to the Corinthians 
prior to the presentation of the overwhelming testimony 
that they had been told in prophecy would be adduced to 
prove by real and violent acts that Jesus was the accepted 
Messiah and Son of God beyond a shadow of doubt, to which 
time they were to live by faith in the truth of prophecy; 
and did steadily look for and confidently expect it (as did 
Noah) with unparalleled fidelity, though they knew not the 
day and hour of its coming. Would you not then have real- 
ized the fact that the work was imperfect, and that the 
doubt, if thus left, would destroy the perfect reign of God 
in the hearts of men? Unquestionably, as the years passed 
round, jout faith would sicken, and finally die; leaving you 
at the mercy of a stubborn reality, that your eternal inter- 
ests had been entrusted to a myth. In order to a better 
understanding of your condition, look back to the days of 
Noah, when the ark was made ready; had the animals re- 



402 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

fused to enter in, and the waters failed to cover the earth, 
he never eoiild have been made to believe that it was an 
omnipotent and ojnniscient God who declared" to him that 
man's days should be a hundred and twenty years; and you 
certainly can look forward and see the disastrous result of 
teaching that God's judgments have not been executed 
against the world according to His declarations, as they ver- 
ily have been full and complete, and the traces are plainly 
visible upon the face of the Qarth, in both animate and in- 
animate matter. (^ 

Those things were all mysterious to man at that early 
age, until verified by ocular demonstrations: and I do say 
most emphatically, that neither God the Father nor His 
Son in the body of Jesus ever called upon man to believe 
anything by a simple declaration, but in all instances fol- 
lowed those declarations with promises of subsequent acts, 
such as would be quite sufficient to prove to man's under- 
standing the truth of his words, and fully reconcile the hu- 
man mind. 

The ark was a mystery to the people of the first world, 
so also to Noah, as well as the coimnand from God to build 
it; but was not the object most brilliantly illustrated by the 
terrific and angry wave that covered the earth ? Verily the 
mighty water which destroyed everything that breathed the 
breath of life also swept awa.y those mysteries as darkness 
flees before the sunlight, and the survivors understood God 
and the object of His stupendous work. 

1 now say by the authority of the Scriptures, and the 
Spirit of Truth within me, that all the previous mysteries 
of the operations of God on the earth from the beginning 
were wholly solved and fully explained by Christ in His 
life and death and the works which followed by His apostles 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 403 

in their days, terminating in the overflowing destruction 
prophesied long before the days of Christ and reviewed by 
John immediately before the beginning of its execution. In 
the days of the apostles, as shown on a previous page, they 
knew in part, and in part they prophesied, and it is not 
strange that they Vv^ere able to prophesy, since by the acts 
of Christ a part of the prophetic story had been verified, 
and why should they not have faith that the remainder 
would be, especially since every day's transactions present- 
ed in reality some part thereof ? They had but to be guided 
by what had been said of future events in the entire sys- 
tem of operation, necessary to establish God's kingdom on 
earth, never fearing but that the predicted result would fol- 
low. And so may we to-day know what is in store upon the 
earth for us, if we follow the Spirit of Truth, closing our 
eyes and ears to all other influences. 

But, on the other hand, had not these results followed, 
even to the destruction of the world, the throwing down of 
the cities of the nations by the terrible earthquakes, the ar- 
rogant and barbarous works of Antichrist, and in reality 
fully winding up the old, and establishing the new and ev- 
erlasting covenant and kingdom in the hearts of men — ^in 
short, fulfilling all prophecies: I ask, how and why seal up 
the vision and prophecy ? They were the food and support 
of men's faith, by which they were to live till the complete 
and final consummation of all things written, and the Spirit 
of God permanently fixed in the minds of the Christian peo- 
ple, as it certainly was. All things did transpire as they 
were written, or faith would have died, and the work done 
in part would have been fruitless, and the world again re- 
cede and take upon it the heavy and perpetual mantle of 
darkness. Imaginary mysteries of the present day, brought 



5404: Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

about by the complicated manner of construing the Script- 
ures, are productive of skepticism; and, many good men in 
the world are thus rendered worthless or inefficient work- 
men upon the walls of the great City of Grod^ and the time 
in like manner deferred when the earth will be filled with 
His glory. Let us learn to accept the Scriptures in their 
simplest meaning; for certainly they were intended for men 
of very moderate intellectual ability, and we will examine 
them on this part of the subject. 

Paul, in the last chapter of his letter to the Eomans, 
speaks of their obedience, and reminds them of the com- 
ing destruction which was to subdue the power that op- 
posed them and make it subordinate, by saying: "The God 
of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." In 
His words of praise subsequent to the benediction, he said: 
"I^ow to him that is of power to stablish you according to 
my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to 
the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since 
the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the 
Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment 
of the everlasting God, made 'known to all nations for the 
obedience of faith.''^ 

We see by this, that the preaching of Jesus Christ was 
in accordance with the revelation of the mystery which had 
hitherto been kept secret; and we have no grounds on which 
to base an opinion that the revelation did not continue till 
the mystery was wholly solved and done away. He says 
that this mystery "by the scriptures of the prophets, ac- 
cording to the commandment of the everlasting God, made 
known to all nations.'^ This of itself is good and sufficient 
evidence that the gospel had been preached to all nations 
preparatory for the end or consummation of all things, if 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 405 

there were no other testimony; and at this point it is ap-, 
propriate for me to say; that the great and principal mys- 
tery to be found in all the works of God from the fonnda-. 
tion was the Tree of Life, and the manner in which man 
should partake of its fruit. The great statue of figures, 
signs, and emblems in the Tabernacle, Temple, and sacri- 
ficial service was anveiled in it, or Jesus; and all that re- 
mained to be done to make the work complete was to prove 
that He was truly that Tree of Life or Messiah by a com- 
plete fulfilling of all that had been prophesied concerning 
Him. True enough, the Spirit of God was a great mystery 
to all who would not accept Christ and receive it; but it 
does solve all mysteries of itself to every heart that will 
unreservedly follow wherever it leads. 

In 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, we find the following lan- 
guage: "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, 
even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the 
world unto our glorA^j which none of the princes of this 
world knev/: for had they known it, they would not have 
crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,^^ [Here he 
quotes Isaiah, chapter 64, in the following manner, but not 
literal.] "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him.'* While Paul does not 
give an exact quotation, you can clearly see that all these 
things were mysteries to those who lived in the days when 
they existed as unfulfilled prophecy; neither was it expect- 
ed that they should have faith in any part of the work till 
it began to be fulfilled; then it was these mysteries began 
to be explained, and the attention of the public was first 
called to them by John the Baptist preaching in the wilder- 
ness. Isaiah (ch. 40) first. speaks of this part which John 



406 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

acted jn the preparation and search for the Messiah, the 
time when Israel or the people of God were to be liberated, 
and expressed himself in the following manner: "Comfort 
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye com- 
fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare 
is accomplished, th'at her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath 
received of the Lord^s hand double for all her sins. The 
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the 
way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for 
our God." Malachi (ch. 3) speaks of John as the messenger 
of the Christ, and expresses the duties of John thus: "Be- 
hold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way 
before me : and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come 
to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye 
delight in: behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." 
John the Baptist was first spoken of in Matthew, chapter 
3, and it is said: "In those days came John the Baptist, 
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Kepent ye: 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that 
was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of 
one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord, make his paths straight." N"ow the baptism by this 
John was instituted for the purpose of finding the Christ; 
for it was understood that the Spirit should descend upon 
Him as soon as He was baptized, and this was to be the first 
evidence of the man being the Christ, whoever he might be; 
and as soon as He was found, John's baptism ceased, and 
this was among the first prophecies that came to pass rela- 
tive to the Holy One of Israel, and here it was these mys- 
teries began to be unfolded, so that some understood to a 
certain extent, but they were to study them, and the Spirit 
of Truth was to be their guide and teacher, by which they 



Tiuo Thousand Years in Eternity. 407 

were to understand tlie whole plan of operation, to abolish 
heathenism, preserve seed to populate the third world, and 
establish it under the rule of- that spirit. 

Now observe the language in PauFs first letter to the 
Corinthians, ch. 2, v. 10; he says plainly in speaking of these 
mysteries and purposes of God to His people: "But God 
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit 
search eth all things, yea, the deep things of God/^ It is 
very evident by the declaration of the apostle here, that the 
mysteries were solved by the appearance of Christ and the 
Spirit of Truth; and not only to the apostles, who had the 
poAver to give the Holy Ghost, but also to all subjects who 
received it. Eead on further in this chapter, and ponder 
well what is said by the apostle, and ascertain whether or 
not it accords with the views I have given deduced from 
prophecy and the words and works of Christ and the New 
Covenant to the effect that all those who were converted 
under the preaching of Christ and the apostles, with the in- 
fluence of their miraculous works, and received the Spirit 
of God, together with their children after them, for ever, 
should have the guide and power within them to understand 
all the mysteries of God^s operations on earth: and that 
power is nothing more nor less than the Spirit of Truth. 
The apostle says further on: "For what man knoweth the 
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? 
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 
of God. Now we -have received, not the spirit of the world, 
but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the 
things that are freely given to us of God." You know full 
well that it is by our intellectual reason truthfully used that 
man has developed the arts a,nd sciences which are God^s 
operations on earth, and hence we develop the knowledge of 



408 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

God and His work; and the object of Christ was to show to 
man and convince him that this Spirit within ns is noth- 
ing less than God himself directing our course. I do not say 
that all men follow it, nor that any mian follows all of its 
commands; for certainly if they did, the Christian nations 
of the earth to-day would be filled with the glory of God ; 
the arts and sciences would be far above and beyond their 
present standard; by this time we would no more fear the 
sword, and we would be able to turn away the ravages of 
famine and pestilence which do from time to time enter the 
Christian nations and devastate portions of their country; 
and this is what I call "Icnoiving God'' : and it is by this con- 
tinuous and endless study of God that the world will be im- 
proved, beautified, and made a happy dwelling-place for 
man. Yes, think of it calmly, rationally, and not mytho- 
logically, for it is this Spirit of Truth, and it alone, wielded 
by the God of heaven, which is to regulate the world, bring 
everlasting peace and great happiness to man, -with, a mos^ 
satisfactory knowledge of the Creator and His works. God 
is Truth in its plainest and simplest sense; and so simple is 
the operation of that Spirit that a wayfarer, though ^^a, fool, 
need not err therein'^: and surely he will be led by it to a 
haven of eternal rest. This Spirit at the time it was given 
to the elect was attended with miraculous results; and it 
is but reasonable that it should have been, when we take 
into consideration the great work to be accomplished by it 
and them. Joel (ch. 2) speaks of the last days, and the time 
when the Messiah was to come and the Spirit of God was 
to be introduced to man prior to the grelat judgment of God, 
as follows: ^^And it shall come to pass afterward, that I 
will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and 
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 409 

dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon 
the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I 
pour out my spirit. And I vrill show wonders in the heav- 
ens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into 
blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord 
come.'-' You see he speaks of the day and the effect of the 
Spirit prior to the Judgment when all people had the oppor- 
tunity to accept that Spirit as the Spirit of God. And I ask 
you to please bear in mind especially that Isaiaii (ch. 59) 
said : "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the 
Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I 
have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, 
nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of 
thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for 
ever.'' And it is that same Spirit of Truth which has ele- 
vated the enlightened world to its present state of compar- 
ative peace and happiness, though its operations as yet are 
very imperfect among men. 

Another mystery in the works of Christ spoken of in 
Ephesians, chapter 3, and elsewhere, was the admission of 
the Gentiles as the people of God, which was also declared 
by the prophets, by which prophecies Paul understood these 
things. He said: "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of 
Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dis- 
pensation of the grace of God which is given me to you- 
ward: hoAV that by revelation he made known unto me the 
mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye 
read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of 
Christ;) which in other ages was not made known unto the 
sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and 
prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow- 



410 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise 
in Christ by the gospel/^ Isaiah (eh. 42, v. 6, and ch. 49, 
V. 6) speaks of the object and works of Christ, to also en- 
lighten the heathen as well as the Jews and give all an 
opportunity to accept life and liberty. He says: "I the 
Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine 
hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind 
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them 
that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. I am the Lord : 
that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, 
neither my praise to graven images." You see clearly from 
the above that the great object of Christ was to destroy 
heathenism and teach men that the true God was a Spirit. 
Again he speaks of the same matter in chapter 49, showing 
that God intended that the whole world should be redeemed 
and brought back from their benighted condition through 
the instrum.entality of the Messiah, and not the Jews alone 
should have the opportunity. He said: "It is a light thing 
that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of 
Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel:" [The elect.] 
''I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou 
majr'est be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Other 
prophets spoke of the same thing, and I need not point out 
the various places in prophecy; and while you and I can read 
it to-day and clearly understand what was meant — indeed, 
it seems almost childishly simple to us, insomuch that it 
is hard to realize the fact that to them in that day it was 
a most profound and hidden mystery; and had it been sug- 
gested to Israel at that time that God intended to accept 
the Gentiles or heathen as His people, and that that was 
the interpretation of the words of the prophet, they would 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 411 

have scorned the idea -without giving it the slightest cre- 
dence. It was a great mystery, brought to light by Christ, 
who broke down the middle wall of partition between the 
Jew and the Gentile, and admitted both by one Spirit to the 
Father, as seen in Ephesians, chapter 2, We also see in 
this same chapter that it was the Gentiles who worshiped 
idols who are spoken of as "dead in trespasses and in. sins/' 
who were without God and without hope in the world. They 
were those shjeep not of the fold of Israel, whom Christ said 
He must bring, and there should be "one fold and one shep- 
herd"; and being once brought into the fold, they and their 
offspring forever after belong thereto; not needing the 
gateway opened again and ag'ain for each succeeding gen- 
eration: but growing up in a knowledge of God, they have 
that Spirit within them; thus placing man upon the same 
platform with Adam before the fall; with good and evil, 
life and death placed before them in their own hearts, and 
power to choose between the two; the Spirit of Truth being 
the agent of God, or rather God himself, on the one hand, 
and the spirit of man, or requirements and lusts of the 
flesh, on the other. The one leads to God and eternal life, 
while the other continues forever downward, tortured and 
bruised by the fruitless results of its own actions; being a 
creature, and not having creative power, it is unable to satisfy 
its own cravings, and hence must grow weaker and more 
defective until it perish, or is consumed by the require- 
ments of its own finite nature; being thus unsupported by 
the omnipotence of God. This I conceive to be the lake of 
fire into which death and hell were cast; and John said, 
''This is the second death.'' 

Xow in regard to this matter you can think for your- 
self, and with more satisfaction than you would receive 



412 Two Thousand Years in Eternity,, 

from the ideas and suggestions of anyone else: but turn 
your search to your own heart, and imagine your condition 
when left wholly to your own carnal nature ; finite and pow- 
erless, destitute of every attribute, or even the slightest sup- 
port, or protection of God. "Would you not be consumed by 
your own fruitless cravings, and perish beyond a possibility 
of a doubt? Let us look more to these things, for I think 
there is clearly indicated on the face of the New Script- 
ures a great and earnest endeavor to enable man to un- 
derstand all the works of God on earth by his own reason 
and common sense. 

I have intimated in a former part of this work that 
the Scriptures are not the written laws for our government. 
I now say with emphasis, and definitely, that neither the 
Old 7ior the New Scriptures are intended for man^s govern- 
ment at this age of the world. I think that all sacred 
writers upon this subject endeavor to show that all written 
laws for the government of men were imperfect, and only 
served in man's crude state to draw a line of distinction 
between good and evil_, or, in other words, they with their 
attending penalties were intended to teach man in his 
fallen state, that there was such a thing as good and evil, 
and that the one was productive of peace and life, while 
the other led to sorrow and death. There are very many 
places in the Scriptures showing that the written laws are 
worthless; but I call your attention to what Paul said to 
the Romans (ch. .3), as follows : "Now we know that what 
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under 
the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the 
world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the 
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: 
for by the. law is the knowledge of sio. But now the right- 



Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 413 

eausness of God without the law is manifested, being wit- 
nessed by the law and the prophets/^ The ministration of 
the law AYas called the ministration of condemnation ; which 
you can clearly understand, since the heathen nor Jew knew 
not that their vile acts were wrong until they were forbid 
to commit them, which the law did, as the authority to the 
Jews, and hence they were condemned in their own hearts 
when they violated those laws, just as a child: it does not 
feel condemned, or have a knowledge of guilt, until the par- 
ent forbids its acts ; and this is why it was a ministration of 
condemnation. 

We can understand by our most ordinary reason, that 
had the world not been shown that there was such a thing 
as good and evil, man would not have felt guilt, and with- 
out guilt there could not have teen repentance, reformation, 
nor an improvement of his condition. Therefore the first 
step in relieving the fallen condition of the human family 
was to condemn or place it under condemnation, which the 
law did; and the next was to raise it out of that condemned 
state: therefore the first, or administration of law, was that 
of condemnation, while the second, by Christ, was of lib- 
erty. TJie execution of these laws, and the inflicting of 
their penalties, suggested to man that there was a power 
greater than the law itself, to which his developing intellect 
was directed: but when man's intelligence was sufficient to 
understand the source and character of that power, to then 
keep him confined to a written code for his government must 
certainly convey the idea of limited power, or limitation of 
the acquirements of the' subject, which would constitute 
man an animal of the lower grade. But God's laws being 
directed to the intelligent part of man which to us is un- 
limited and progressive, the law, in order to meet its de- 



414 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

mands, must be progressive also. And since the great work 
of God requires such a class of operators, and each individ- 
ual a different part to perform, the mental ability and in- 
tellectual development is not exactly alike in any two, and 
therefore requires a separate law for the government of 
each. I do not mean radically different, but varied accord- 
ing to the ability of the subject, and the work to which he 
is assigned. This law, in order to be effective and meet all 
demands, must be written in the hearts of men, as God de- 
clared it should be; which -evidently means that it is so con- 
nected or intertwined with man's intelligence as to operate 
upon and co-operate with it. Now the old Mosaic law was 
for the purpose of preparing the mind of man for the spir- 
itual laAV, which was written in the heart during the days of 
Christ and the apostles, by whom man was also pointed to 
God as the great Law-giver. 

This is the law of the mind spoken of by Paul in Eo- 
mans (ch. 7), and was set up in what he terms the "inward 
man" for the purpose of controlling the body by intellectual 
reason, and prevent those excesses produced by the phys- 
ical law unrestrained. He defines this matter in the follow- 
ing manner: "For when we were in the flesh, the motions 
of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to 
bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered 
from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that 
we should serve in newness of Spirit, and not in the old- 

ness of the letter For we know that the law 

is spiritual : but 1 am carnal, sold under sin. For that which 
I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what 
I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I 
consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no 
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 415 

that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: 
for to will is present with me; but how to perform that 
which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do 
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Xow if I 
do that I would not, it is no more I th'aft do it, but sin that 
dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do 
good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of 
God after the inward man: but I see another law in my 
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing 
■ me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.^' 
We see plain enough from the above that this man Paul 
could not control the flesh any better than we do to-day, 
and perhaps understood this law of the mind as little. It 
is called "the law of God,^' since by its observance man will 
ultimately be made perfect, and by his reason will so con- 
trol the body, or physical man, as that it will be used exclu- 
sively to meet the requirements of the spiritual, and thus 
fulfill the spirit of the law written in books, and keep him- 
self wholly within its pale; being governed by that more in- 
telligent and refined law written in the heart. The former 
being dead, though in every respect fulfilled, or he being 
dead to the law, while the latter continues to draw closely 
about him, hedging him in on every side, as he advances 
toward the center or point of perfection. This the Mosaic 
law could never do, nor any other written instrument, and 
hence we see at once that the Bible, nor New Testament, is 
for the government of man at the present day, but is sim- 
ply a record of events which support the Spirit of God with- 
in him, by which he is governed; and if we examine closely, 
we will find that so far from purporting to be the law for 
man's government, the sacred writers all did their utmost 
to avert the minds of their subjects from all books or writ- 



416 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ten codes, and induce them to stndy the law written 
within them, that they might understand its most per- 
fect commands and see the great necessity of circumcision 
of heart, and the crucifying or mortifying the flesh, that the 
body may be brought in subjection to the intelligence of 
the mind, guided by the Spirit of Truth. 

Up to ihe time when man's intelligence was sufficient 
to comprehend a spiritual service, the Jews were justified 
by obeying the Mosaic law, and hence they were judged by 
it, notmthstanding its imperfection, and it satisfied God. 
Biit when Christ came into the world, man was taught that 
no trae righteousness could possibly result from a literal ob- 
servance of the law, as we see in Eomans, chapter 10, that 
the Jews tried to establish their righteousness by the law, 
and did not submit to the righteousness of God. "For 
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one 
that believeth.^' So when men accepted Christ, the Spirit 
of Truth was to guide their intelligence to a proper under- 
standing of the law in their hearts, and the law of books 
was laid away. 

The operations of the Spirit and law under the new 
covenant is in many respects well described in Eomans, 
chapter 2, which I have previously given you, and shows that 
the Gentiles who were governed by their intelligence and 
reason within their own minds were truly more righteous 
than the Jews, and it is plain enough to our reason that in 
those days, and even to-day, men are not all just who are 
justified, but when men do the best they know and feel that 
their conscience is clear so far as an honest effort to do the 
right, then they please God. Paul said to the Eomans who 
had been converted: "For not the hearers of the law are 
just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 417 

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature 
the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, 
are a law unto themselves: Avliich show the work of the law 
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, 
and their thoughts the moan while accusing or else excus- 
ing one another/' Please observe in the above quotation 
that it is their conscience and thoughts that accused or ex- 
cused one another; and apply it to your own heart, remem- 
bering that the Scriptures declare that if a man's heart con- 
demn him, God also condemns him, and vice versa. 

X(Jw do you not see that the actions of the Gentiles as 
described above could not possibly have been prompted in 
any other way than by an honest understanding of right 
and wrong according to their ability, and am earnest desire 
to do the former and turn away from the latter? This cer- 
tainly was the operation of the Spirit of Truth; and the 
great work of Christ was to prove that it was the Spirit of 
God given for our guide: or it might be more properly said 
that through the preaching of Christ we were made to un- 
derstand it as the Spirit provided of God for man's intel- 
lectual guide, which was not recognized in him as the Spirit 
of God till Christ illustrated it, or presented it to him as 
such, and thus the communication between God and man was 
perfected, and it is by this means each of us must judge of 
right and wrong in all of our acts, and one can not possibly 
judge another even of the manner of using the Sabbath 
day. (Matthew, ch. 12.) Christ said to the Jews relative to 
His work on the Sabbath, after showing that man should be 
governed by his intellectual reason in all such acts: "For 
the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." And we 
must rise above the days of the formalities and man's great 
ignorance. The Sabbath was only a sign given to Israel 



418 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

to observe before the heathen, and was sacred to God in 
its purpose at that time: but we are to use it according to 
our common-sense reasoning, and not by any" fixed rule or 
purpose. Of course, the Spirit of God requires us to live 
every day to the honor and glory of the Father, and let each 
man use the Sabbath according to his own judgment, and 
not another's, and Christ endeavored to teaich them thus. 
In St. John, chapter 7, after calling their attention to what 
they did under the law, lie said, "Are ye angry at me be- 
cause I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath 
day? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge 
righteous judgment."' 

David ate the shew-bread, which was unlawful for any 
except the priest, and yet he was not blamed, because he 
was hungry. Christ plucked the ears of corn on the Sab- 
bath day, and did many things contrary to the Mosaic law; 
doubtless to show His disciples the great liberties granted 
under the new covenant, as well as the great weight of re- 
sponsibility resting on each, in judging of the right and 
wrong of their actions, and between the use and abuse of 
their privileges. 

The various places in the letters of Paul to the differ- 
ent nations where he tried hard to impress upon them the 
necessity of turning away from a ritualistic life and judge 
separately their every action are too numerous to mention 
here, and hence I will only speak of such as are suggested 
to my mind as being more illustrative of the operation of 
this law in the hearts of men, and perhaps it is as well to 
speak first of the conscience. What is the conscience of 
man ? I hold that it is nothing more nor less than his own 
individual (strictly truthful) understanding of right and 
wrong according to the measure of his knowledge, approv- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 419 

ing the one and condemning the other : also having pleasure 
for obedience and pain, and sorrow for disobedience. I 
have heard it said by men who argue that it is improper to 
consult conscience in the conduct of Christian life, that it 
is a creature of education. Well, I agree in this. Man is 
also a creature of circumstances — his knowledge and his con- 
science go hand in hand, they are inseparable in this period 
of nian^s intelligence. There was a day, perhaps, in his his- 
tory, when he was wholly destitute of conscience; but with 
his knowledge of right and wrong it sprang forth, and as he 
emerged from that very low state, the most important thing 
to teach him was that the God of heaven ruled the universe 
and held the destiny of men in His hands, and that there 
is a medium of communication between Him and His sub- 
jects on earth. This being done as it was most effectually 
through Christ and His apostles, I care not how limited nor 
how very extensive may be man's knowledge or education, 
his conscience will be commensurate with it : and to do vio- 
lence to either one is to do a corresponding violence to the 
other unavoidably. 

Bear in mind, however, that in speaking of conscience 
I allude to those who seek to do right, for it is yqyj evident 
that those who take pleasure in evil soon blunt the suscep- 
tibility of their conscience, and m'ay totally destroy it. But 
if we examine the matter closely, I think there will be found 
a corresponding retrograde in that knowledge which is to 
elevate a man to the exalted position, and I very much 
believe (though there is no way to test the matter) that 
when man's conscience is seared, or totally destroyed, that 
he has no real and intelligent understanding of the God 
who made him, and passes into a condition equally bad if 
not worse than the heathen of the present day. 



420 Tvjo Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Paul teaches that we must regard conscience in order 
to please God, and not only so, but as no man should live 
for himself alone, we are to regard as far as possible the 
conscience of others. Now I believe that man may be sO 
highly educated in the works of God, or rather, it may be 
more appropriate to say that he may become so familiar 
with God and the operation of His Spirit, that almost all 
things would be admissible to himself individually, without 
any condentnation in his own heart; but it would not be 
proper to so disregard the interest of a yoiinger and less ex- 
perienced brother .as to do in his presence that which his 
own knowledge and conscience would not excuse in himself. 
Read 1 Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9, from which I give you 
the following quotations: "Now as touching things offered 
unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowl- 
edge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. ... As concerning 
therefore the eating of those things that aire offered in sac- 
rifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the 
world, and that there is none other God but one. For 
though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or 
in earth, (as there be gods m.any, and lords many,) but to 
us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, 
aaid we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are 
all things, and we by him. Howbeit there is not in every 
man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol 
unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and 
their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commend- 
eth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; 
neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed 
lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling- 
block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which 
hast knowledge sit at meat in the idoFs temple, shall not 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 421 

the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat 
those things whicli are offered to idols; and through thy 
knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ 
died?'^ Paul then speaks of the liberty he has by an intel- 
ligent knowledge of God which was given to man through 
Christ, and then he goes on to show them that he acted with 
all people wherever he went, that he might please them, 
gain their favor and have influence with them in his teach- 
ing, and says: "Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that T 
might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as 
under the law, that I might gain them that are under the 
law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being 
not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that 
I might gain them that are without law. To the weak be- 
came I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all 
things to all men, that I might by all means save some/' 
He also said that all things were lawful for him, but all 
things were not expedient, neither do they edify. "Let no 
man seek his own, but every man another^s wealth" — that 
is, to advance the interest of another. 

Now, to illustrate the necessity of each man being gov- 
erned by his own judgment and knowledge of right and 
wTong according to his intelligent reason, you see he has 
selected the most forcible subject, and certainly the most 
intricate to both Jew and Gentile of all others — that of 
eating meat sacrificed to idols. And upon this subject he 
talked to the Corinthians, who had but recently been con- 
verted from heathenism, and in his effort to explain to them 
shows conclusively that if man^s intelligence be sufficient on 
all subjects to keep him from sacrificing his fidelity to God 
■in his own heart, he stands uncondemned by his own intel- 
ligent reason, and therefore uncondemned before God, so 



422 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

far as lie is concerned individually; and said plainly to the 
Romans (ch. 14): ''Hast thou faith? have it to thyself be- 
fore God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that 
thing which he alloweth/' And in the same chaptefr he 
said: "Let ns not therefore judge one another any more.*' 
But there is suggested here another very important duty, 
for he says immediately: "But judge this rather, that no 
man put a stumhiing-block, or any occasion to fall, in his 
brother^s way.^^ 

By reverting to the example of eating meat sacrificed 
to idols which has been given you, we can understand to 
some extent the great liberties obtained by a familiar knowl- 
edge of God J and the operation of His Spirit, so also by the 
same example, the fact is unmistakable, that man's intel- 
lectual reason is called in requisition at all points in the 
performance of his duty to his Creator. We learn by the 
foregoing, as well as many other examples in the Scriptures, 
that by our knowledge many acts might be admissible when 
alone or in the company of another of like understanding, 
btii they would be altogether wrong in the presence of a 
weaker brother, w?io could not understand them or the op- 
eration of the Spirit in your heart, and hence the necessity 
of denying ourselves privileges ofttimes for the interest of 
those around us : for we cannot live for ourselves alone and 
please God. 

In chapter 10 Paul admonishes the Corinthians to flee 
from idolatry, and tells them that which the Gentiles sac- 
rifice they sacrifice to devils and not God, and charges them 
not have fellowship with them in their worship (which to 
our understanding is very reasonably proper, that they 
should not eat as idol worshipers), but tells them, "Whatso- 
ever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no questions 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 423 

for conscience sake." Yon understand this; that it might 
have been slaughtered for the idol, and they who were con- 
verted to Christianity ask the question, and being answered 
in the affirmative, then take it for their use, they most 
likely offend the conscience of some who do not so clearly 
understand the impotency of a heathen god, or that you 
looked upon an idol as nothing: for, as he said before, there 
were some who did not clearly understand that there was 
but one God, although they had been converted and taught 
to worship the God of heaven. Again he said, "If any of 
them that believe not" [Meaning those Corinthians who yet 
worshiped idols and believed not in Christ.] "bid you to a 
feast, and ye be disposed to go ; whatsoever is set before you, 
eat, asking no questions for conscience sake. But if any 
man say unto you. This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat 
not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake : for 
the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: conscience 
1 say, not thine own, but of the other/' 

Isow you can see clearly that all things are admissible 
to you, which your common sense and intelligent reason 
teaches you does not in the least harm any other living be- 
ing, mentally or physically, nor will keep you from looking 
up to God with a clear conscience, knowing that you have 
given no cause for offense to any one, and your actions do 
not impair your peaceful communion with the Spirit of God. 
It is also plain that the acceptable worship of God consists 
in an active use of our intelligence and reason, to promote 
the interests of our fellow-men and improve the general con- 
dition of the human family. 



424 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

The New Covenant — Concluded. 

But there is another very important feature here to be 
considered, and one that certainly deserves the closest scru- 
tiny: for I frankly confess that I think it the great obstacle 
in the way of a more rapid advancement of the works of 
God, and enters to a greater or less degree into the dispo- 
sition of most all men at the present age. In bringing this 
before you, I take the side of the weaker brother, and say 
that we are very much inclined to shift responsibility off 
of our own on to the shoulders of those who are considered 
by the world to be learned and strong men, or standard or- 
ganizations, by jdelding to their decisions upon many sub- 
jects of importance contrary to our truthful understanding 
and honest judgment, rather than incur their displeasure by 
asserting our own opinions, or boldly acting out what we are 
convinced is right. As, for example, orthodoxy (so called) 
of to-day frowns down upon any innovation to their old and 
fixed principles, or any part of their doctrines or customs; 
notwithstanding they were established in ages past by men 
who were just as fallible, and as destitute of facilities for 
learning, as are men of the same caliber at the present day; 
thus forcing their opinions upon men of as good natural 
talent as the age produces; who accept them and allow their 
own to sink into oblivion rather than bring about a disgust- 
ing contest with a party who ofttimes carry the point by 
their acquired power, and the magnitude of their phjysical 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 425 

forces, instead of that smooth and harmonious flow of phil- 
osophic reason which should ever characterize a maoi or 
body possessed of the ordinary sound sense and reason of 
human beings : and thus year after year and age after age is 
buried many a- good idea and well-grounded opinion, which 
doubtless in their proper sphere would have worked a great 
good, and hastened the growth of truth and righteousness 
in the world, but for their being lost and left for future 
generations to bring forward. This is very wrong and hypo- 
critical on the part of those who allow themselves thus im- 
posed upon, or in their actions before the world accept as 
true such principles as are not endorsed by their own heart 
or proven up by their intelligent reason; for it is most cer- 
tainly the duty of everyone, both great and. small, to take 
upon themselves the responsibility, be it much or little, and 
act their part on the great stage of life strictly in accord- 
ance with the extent of their knowledge and their truthful 
understanding of right and wrong, in every case guided by 
what he recognizes as the Spirit of Truth within him, no 
matter though it conflict with the highest recognized au- 
thority among men: for no one understands fully his own 
power, nor tlie extent of his influence among his fellow-men, 
and it is wholly impossible to know in whose heart is planted 
the germ of a successful enterprise until it be cultivated 
and allowed to develop. 

But to bring this matter more directly before you, that 
you may understand the idea which I have extracted from 
the Scriptures upon this point, I call your attention to an 
example given in Galatians, chapter 2, where Peter (accord- 
ing to the declaration, of Paul), after he had gone among the 
Gentiles and sat at meat with them (which was contrary to 
the old Jewish law), and knew in his own heart that it wa$ 



426 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

the will of God and clearly his duty to stand np in defense 
of their liberties granted by the God of heaven through 
Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, and to protest against 
their being brought under the form and ceremony of the 
old Mosaic law or the disciplinary rule of any organization, 
did withdraw from them after the arrival of certain of the 
Jews or members of the circumcision, because he feared 
them, and had not the moral courage to discharge that duty 
which God had placed upon him as an individual and one 
of the craft among whom the work was apportioned, but 
went up to Jerusalem, where those of the circumcision up- 
braided him for going among the Gentiles and eating with 
them. I will give you the important parts of this chapter, 
which shows that Peter was implicated in the effort to bring 
the converted Gentiles imder the requirements of the Jew- 
ish law and circumcision ; but he afterward changed when he 
saw or heard the experience of Paul and Barnabas among 
the heathen and their decision as to the requirements. Now, 
after he had been teaching among the heathens fourteen 
years (and perhaps much longer), he says he went up to 
Jerusalem again, and took with him Barnabas, and he also 
took Titus, who was a Greek, converted to the belief in 
Christ. "And I went up by revelation, and communicated 
unto them that gospel w^hich I preach among the Gentiles, 
but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any 
means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, 
who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be cir- 
cumcised: and that because of false brethren unawares 
brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which 
we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into 
bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for 
an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue witli 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 427 

you. But of these who seemed to be somewhat, whatso- 
ever they were, it makes no matter to me: God acceptetK 
no man's person: for the}^ who seemed to be somewhat in 
conference added nothing to me : but contrariwise, when they 
saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed 
unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 
(for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship 
of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me towaxd the 
Gentiles:) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed 
to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, 
they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; 
that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the cir- 
cumcision. Only they would that we should remember the 
poor; the same which I also was forward to do. But when 
Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the facej 
because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came 
from James, he did eat tidth Gentiles: but when they were 
come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them 
which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dis- 
sembled likewise with him;" [That is, they were deceitful.] 
"insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their 
dissimulation." [Deceit and false representations.] "But 
when I saw^ that they walked not uprightly according to 
the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, 
If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and 
not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live 
as do the Jews ? We who are Jews by nature, and not sin- 
ners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified 
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, 
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that might be justi- 
fied by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: 
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," 



428 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Peter after relates the circumstance of his vision, and told 
the whole story of the admission of the Gentiles to the lib- 
erties of the gospel of Christ; but when the dominant party 
at Jerusalem were in favor of subjecting the converted Gen- 
tiles to circumcision, he hypocritically gave his consent, al- 
though he laiew full well that there was no virtue whatever 
in the operation, nor in any part of the formal service re- 
quired by the Jewish law, and was not at all required by the 
Christian faith. This evidently was an injury to the cause, 
and no telling what the result might have been but for Pa<ulj 
who met him at Antioch, and, as he says, "withstood, him 
to the face^^; also that Peter was to blame, and others were 
led astray b}^ his dissimulations, or deceitful misrepresenlia- 
tions. Now in regard to this matter Peter evidently knew 
better, as we see by chapter 15 of Acts that, prior to the 
above time, "certain men which came down from Judea 
taught the brethren, and said. Except ye be circumcised af- 
ter the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved," and Paul and 
Barnabas had great contention and disputing about it; and 
when they went up to Jerusalem and met the apostles and 
elders, some of the Pharisees who had been converted rose 
up and contended : "That it was needful to circumcise them, 
and to command them to keep the law of Moses. . . And 
when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and 
said unto therii, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good 
while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by 
my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe! 
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giv- 
ing them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and pu{ 
no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts 
by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke 
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers 



Two Thousand Years in Eterniiy. 429 

nor we were able to bear?'' Then James rose up, quoted 
the prophets relative to the admission of the Gentiles, and 
then gave his decision as to what duties should be required 
of those who had been converted, and said : "Wherefore my 
sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among 
the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto 
them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from 
fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.''' 
Now you see that he did stand up against the incompatible 
mixture of the lifeless law and formality with the new sys- 
tem of life and liberty of the gospel of Christ, which evi- 
dently would have sooner or later so complicated the sys- 
tem of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ that 
the Gentiles could never have thoroughly understood its 
operation to the perfect satisfaction of their minds or in- 
telligent reason: and so to-day, by the present system of 
teaching the Scriptures, by mixing up the foolish formal- 
ities and ordinances of so-called churches, the masses of 
the people cannot thoroughly understand the simple re- 
quirements of God, and hence are more or less dissatisfied. 
But in the same chapter of Acts we see that the apostles 
did send certain persons to the converted Gentiles with let- 
ters instructing them that no greater burden was put upon 
them than to refrain from the pollutions of idols, and from 
fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood; 
which was quite sufficient to distinguish them from other 
unconverted Gentiles, to the perfect satisfaction of their 
limited powers of reason, and the reconciliation of their 
mind and conscience: which was all that was necessary for 
them; nor can any other follower of the Spirit of God at 
the present day do more than that which will perfectly sat- 



430 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

isfy the demands of his own heart, for through it the com- 
mands are given. 

Now we see in this that while Peter wa« willing and 
bold to suffer reproach, persecution and affliction in the dis- 
charge of his duty, either among the Gentiles or uncon- 
verted Jews, he was afraid to oppose his own people in an 
organized body, who claimed to be authority for the con- 
duct of other Christians, and hence he acquiesced in their- 
decisions and requirements, rather than incur their displeas- 
ure or reproach by speaking or acting boldly those truths 
of God written in his own heart. This course on the 
part of individuals certainly does produce greater or less 
confusion in the carrying out of the great purposes of God; 
for one at least of the craft fails to perform his part of the 
work exactly as it is laid down on the trestle-board by the 
great Architect: and how many there are who thus act we 
cannot tell. This confusion exists to-day, and while it will 
not prevent the ultimate achievement of the great objects 
of God on the earth, it does retard the progress of the work 
and doubtless is the cause of many good subjects being lost. 

My reason for thus speaking is that I have talked with 
a great many members of the different organizations called 
"churches,^^ who tell me they do not wholly endorse the 
teaching of the one to which they belong ; and some say that 
the requirements upon entering do not accord with the im- 
pressions made upon their heart by reading the Scriptures 
and prayer to God, and that they are forced to accept the 
construction placed upon the Scriptures by the leaders of 
the organization to which they belong, though they may be 
very different to their individual views, or remain outside 
the organization: and that because of the confused manner 
of teaching the Scriptures, and the strong impressions made 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 431 

by men, they thought it better to sacrifice their own views 
and risk the reconciliation of their minds to other men^s 
opinions, rather than remain isolated from a tangible body. 
This is for want of perfect reliance on the Spirit of God, 
and too great regard for the precepts of men. The conse- 
quence is that many say they are dissatisfied and some quite 
unhappy because they had disregarded the handwriting of 
God in their own hearts, which was a reasonable consequence 
when they thus leave the rock on which Christ founded His 
church. Turn now to Matthew 16, and examine wha,t he 
said in regard to this matter, though no doubt you remem- 
ber His questions and answers ; the first of which was, "Who 
do men say that 1 the Son of Man am?" The answer was, 
"Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and 
others, ,Jerenii as, or one of the prophets." Then He asked 
the disciples direct, "But whom say ye that I am?" And 
Simon Peter answered, and said, "Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God." Then said Jesus, "Blessed art 
thou, Simon Bar-jonah, for flesh and blood hath not re- 
vealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And 
I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter." (Please examine 
the preceding quotation, for in it is to be found the power 
by which God will rule the world and man obtain eternal 
life.) Then Jesus declared, "And upon this rock I will build 
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it." Now what was "this rock" ? . Was it Peter ? Xay, 
verily; and I hope you have no such a shortsighted view of 
an agent so stupendous, and so magnificently beautiful in 
its operations. 1 agree that we find in Revelation that the 
names of the twelve apostles were engrtaved or inlaid in the 
twelve foundations of the Beautiful City ; but what gave such 
peculiar strength to those foundations, that they should 



432 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

with -unerring and unfailing certainty bear up the entire 
superstructure to be reared upon them, no matter how lofty 
nor how ponderous it may be ? Was it not the glorious and 
inestimable Truth, made known to man, that the hand 
which manipulated those living stones, and fitted them for 
their position in the foundation of this peerless edifice, was 
not flesh and blood? Or, in other words: the knowledge 
necessary to constitute man a good and efficient servant of 
God was not revealed to him by flesh and blood; or that one 
man could not teach another those inestimable truths, but 
God the Father through the Spirit: and that that power 
which enables us to understand God, and know Jesus as 
the Son of God, is just as forcible and of the very same 
character as that which enables us to knoAV one another. In 
short, Peter hnew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the 
living God, with equal certainty and in the same manner 
that Jesus knew who Peter was; and with that same, cer- 
tainty must our minds be forever satisfied that Jesus was 
the mediator between God and man. Aud to-day I can, 
with that same confidence and in like manner, hnow that 
Jesus was the witness of God and mediator to man; and I 
do thank God to tie fullest extent of my capacity and am 
really glad in my heart, that my fear of God was not taught 
hy the precepts of men, and the knowledge I have of the 
Father and the Son was not revealed to me in any way what- 
ever by flesh and blood. I remember well the days when 
I took my first lessons very early in childhood, sitting or 
kneeling around my mother^s lap, whereon lay the old fam- 
ily Bible, worn and stained by age and use, which conveyed 
the idea to me that it was Mother^s treasure. And as Sab- 
bath after Sabbath I lingered about her, either restlessly 
sitting on a chair or rudely rolling upon the carpet at her 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 433 

feet, I gradually became impressed Avith the idea that the se- 
cret of my destiny was some how or some where contained 
within that book: or rather, I found my heart stamped 
Avith something, the influence of which was strong, and I 
now realize the fact that it was lasting. Since then I have 
asked myself the question. What was it possessing such 
power to thus stamp the human heart? Was it the words 
of the Scriptures ? Certainly not : for as my mother tried to 
teach me the contents of the book, the language to me was 
wholly unmeaning and void of symphony. Was it the 
words I heard her utter day after day and Sabbath after 
Sabbath as 1 loitered about her ? No, it could not have 
been; for although her voice was sweet to me, as the recol- 
lection of it is dear to-day, the volume of her words passed 
away in the oblivion of my childhood. But since I have ar- 
rived at the years of maturity, and my intelligence and 
reason are fully fledged, the problem has been solved, and 
I have the answer. And while you doubtless understand 
it for yourself, would to God I had the language to convey 
it to your understanding, just as it is forced upon me to- 
day. It is feebly this: I instinctively knew that there ex- 
isted in her heart a feeling of love, care, and an earnest de- 
sire for my welfare and eternal interests (such as can only 
be entertained by a mother or father for their own child) 
as pure and simple as the truth that flows from the throne 
of God: for it was the untarnished work of His own hand 
— the virgin Truth disrobed — the Spirit of the Father who 
presided over laan in his primeval days, and forgets not 
to spread the mantle of protection around childhood even 
to the present time. And she, being of the seed of the 
elect saints, or those who believed through their word (who 
established the kingdom of heaven), was directed by that 



434 Two Thousand Years in Mternity. 

Spirit which God said should not depart from them, nor their 
seedy nor their seed's seed for ever, to worship the living God : 
and like all Christian mothers in behalf of their oifspring, 
there was such a real fervency in her every word, act, look, or 
toiich — so free from guile and prompted by that Truth from 
God which filled her heart, that although her words and 
acts have passed away in forgetfulness, the honesty and 
fervency of that Truth which prompted them was stamped 
upon my heart indelibly, and that Spirit was transfused into 
me; which is the Spirit of the Father that has followed 
and admonished me of evil from that day to the present. 
And although I have listened attentively to many who are 
called "able divines," in their efforts to teach men the ways 
dnd will of God and their corresponding duties to Him, they 
fell far short, and I never knew to the satisfaction of my 
intelligent reason, till I turned a deaf ear to all teachers 
made of flesh and blood, and yielded myself fearlessly to 
that Spirit of the Father, which I find now had been in 
me from childhood, though I did not obey its commands, 
and constantly received the corresponding condemnation. 
As is said in the Scriptures, the Spirit of God within us 
only can know the things of God, and will search out the 
deep things of God, and is the only agent that can teach 
them to us. We may listen attentively to theologians of 
great learning, and when they are done, we have but heard 
their opinion, or the opinion of some other man through 
them; and it may conflict with our own,. and only serve to 
confuse us, for words are lifeless. But when we come in con- 
tact with that halo of Truth that radiates from a being 
filled with the Spirit of God, and governed by it, no matter 
in what way he meet us, we cannot withstand him, but at 
once begin to regard the truth in our own hearts, and cul- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 435 

tivate it^ or skulk away, suffering the condemnation for our 
obstinacy or dishonesty. The two are incompatible, and 
where one exists, the other must perish. 

In the case of Peter, it was not the words of Christ 
which influenced him and made him know that it was the 
power of God clothed in flesh, but that halo of limpid 
Truth, the Spirit of the Father, which radiated in every 
look, word, and act: raised the dead, opened the blind eyes, 
and filled the heart of Peter with that living fire which 
consumed all doubt and disbelief and visited upon him a 
knowledge that Jesus was the way or medium of communi- 
cation between the God of heav.en and His creatures upon 
the earth — even the Son of the living God. 

I would have you now examine for yourself, and deter- 
mine to your perfect satisfaction what is meant by 'Hlie 
heart of man,'' and ask that you do not go outside the body 
of the Scriptures for your definition, since its signification 
certainly is determined by its use therein. The idea is 
forced upon me by reading the Book, that it is the foun- 
tain of man^s intellectual knowledge, or seat of reason, as 
is his material heart the fountain of life to his physical 
being. This is -Rhere the laws of God are written for man's 
government on the earth now and henceforth, and it will 
be for ever, for God said it was to be an everlasting cove- 
nant. Let us refer to it again. Jeremiah (ch. 31) gives 
it as follows: "After those days, saith the Lord, I will 
put my law in their inward parts, and \\Tite it in their 
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my peo- 
ple. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, 
and every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord: for 
they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the 
greatest of them, saith the Lord." Paul quotes this same 



436 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

prophecy to the Hebrews (ch. 8) in the following language: 
"After those days, saith the Ijord, I will put my laws into 
their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be 
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they 
shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every m&si his 
brother," etc. Now I ask yon to-day. Who are the people 
of God? Are they the entire Christian nation outside of 
the Jews, Hindoos, Chinese and other heathens, who do 
know that the true and living God is a Spirit? Or are they 
the people who the so-called ministers of the gospel of 
Christ are claiming to convert from among the Christian 
nation? Are we heathens, who were raised by Christian 
parents, though we perhaps never entered a house built with 
hands called "church"? I ask again. Who are the peo- 
ple of the true and living God? I will answer that ques- 
tion without fear of successful refutation, with the Spirit 
of the Father in my heart this very moment, and tell you. 
It is tlie entire Christian nation who refuse to how to stocks 
and stones, or images made with handsy and holdly refuse to 
submit to any set form or ceremony to please God, hut stand 
up Wke men in the likeness and image of their Creator, hav- 
ing His laws written in their hearts or minds. Who has the 
right to dictate terms of peace between you and our God? 
Nay, but that day is past, and there is no one endowed 
with that power, for no one man nor set of men "shall teach 
his neighbour nor his brother." 

"After those days,'' said the prophet. I now ask you. 
What days? And if you leave the answer with me, I tell 
you plainly and without hesitation that they were the "great 
and notable days of God Almighty" spoken of by all of 
the prophets and Christ — the days when the terrible de- 
struction of Antichrist and the nations of the earth 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 437 

should take place. As Luke said, ^'Tlie days when alt 
things written shall he fulfilled'' When the mighty ar- 
mies siuTOunded Jerusalem, which was the first to be de- 
stroj^ed. And I ask. Where now are the cities of Thebes and 
of Tyre?^^ or any other city that stood upon her foundja- 
tions when that man Jesus was on the earth? Ah! alas 
for the doomed cities of antiquity! They are gone for 
ever, and will never again be reared upon their former 
foundations, Jerusalem not excepted. 

Can you not clearly understand how that law was writ- 
ten in their hearts ? It seems plain to me that the saints 
and elect were taught by Christ and the apostles, and the 
truth of the words of Grod were riveted upon their under- 
standing by the miracles of Christ and the terrific fulfill- 
ment of the words of prophecy in the days of persecution 
and slaughter, and the offspring of those who were saved, 
being capable of intelligent reason and freed from the old 
Mosaic law and heathen superstition, were forced to exer- 
cise that reason in determining right and wrong before God 
and of course, like to-day, they found a law in their hearts 
approving the former and condemning the latter, accord- 
ing to their intelligent understanding of the principles of 
equity; and since the power of the heathen gods had been 
destroyed, and their parents knew and worshiped the God 
of heaven, they could not otherwise than recognize those 
laws within them as the laws of God, which they really were, 
and are in full force to-day, however many creeds and doc- 
trines are taught; and thousands in the Christian world 
may be led astray by them, and caused to disregard those 
laws to a greater or less extent, who will have to suffer the 
consequences; yet they can never break down and destroy 



438 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

this system, which God ordained to be the only power on 
the earth ; and those laws are to be construed and explained 
by the Spirit of Truth within ns, which we are told many 
times in the Scriptures, and emphatically, is the Spirit of 
God. 

The power to obtain a knowledge of all things brought 
before us by the exercise of our intelligent reason, unpreju- 
diced by any selfish motive or direct physical gratification, 
subjecting our deliberations to the Spirit of Truth within 
us, for the approval or disapproval of all conclusions; and 
to recognize this power as a gift or power given us of God, 
which came to our understa.nding at .a proper period of de- 
velopment according to His designs and made known as 
such through His Son — the Word represented in and by 
Jesus, Who became the Christ, as the agent by whom man's 
intelligence was in all things directed to the Creator of the 
universe as the proper source of omnipotence; and that by 
this same system of intelligence Peter, as well as all other 
Christians, did know that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of 
the living God — {-5 llie Bock on which the church was founded. 
In short, the Church of Christ was founded upon that in- 
telligence and reason which constitutes man a superior be- 
ing, even like God : and the knowledge that Jesus was the 
agent through whom he was led to understand that the 
living God was the source of all his power and intelligence, 
and that the Spirit of Truth within him is the Spirit of 
God. , ■■:^:idj 

And now, since the church, or kingdom of heaven, is 
built upon the intelligent reason of man which God has 
given him, and that it is man's intelligence that lives for- 
ever, we may easil}^ understand how it is that the "gates 
of the grave," (Isaiah^ ch. 38, v. 10,) "the gates of death,"^ 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 439 

(Job, ch. 38, V. Yi,) "the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it.*^ (Matthew, ch. 16, v. 18.) 

It is an incontrovertible fact in the body and tenor of 
the Scriptures, that the grave, or death (not the sepulcher), 
which hid the body and obscured the spirit of man till the 
introduction of the Tree of Life, and hell, which was the 
thus hidden condition, did exist prior to the coming of 
Christ, and were conquered and destroyed by His preach- 
ing to the spirits in prison and the spirits in the body, and 
thus establishing in the minds of men a knowledge of the 
true God, through His Son — the Word; which, once es- 
tablished in a mind capable of intelligent reason, can never 
be erased: and hence the Eternal Life established among 
men, as the agents of God to do His will or commands, and 
carry out His designs. This being the church, our minds 
may be well reconciled as to how and why "the gates of 
hell," through "the gates of death," "shall not prevail 
against it." According to this view of the operation of 
the Kew Covenant, most all things ^\Titten, and all things 
that present themselves in the due course of human events, 
may be understood readily; though otherwise intricate and 
unintelligible. 

In John's first Epistle (ch. 3, vs. 18 to 21) he said to 
the young followers of Christ: "My little children, let us 
not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in 
truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and 
shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart con- 
demns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all 
things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we 
confidence toward God." 

Now if the laws of God are written in our hearts for 
our government, most certainly by those laws are we either 



440 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

condemned or excused; and in all the writings of the apostles 
we see that an acceptable service of God by each individual 
is dictated by the intelligent reason and judgment within 
his own heart. Paul illustrates this by the example of meat- 
eating, which I spoke of in part on previous pages, and 
now direct your attention to it again; in Eomans (ch. 14) 
he said : "I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that 
there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteem- 

eth anything to be unclean, to, him it is unclean 

Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing 
which he alloweth and he that doubteth is damned if he 
eat/' 

Is it not clear and conclusive that man must, in all of 
his action.^ to God, be governed by that intelligence and 
judgment >v^hich his Creator gave him to decide all ordi- 
nary matters of everyday life? And the;^e laws now grow 
up in us from childhood. 

In regard to the last clause of the preceding quota- 
tion, you understand beyond a doubt that our heart and 
conscience can never rest in peace when we commit an act 
the propriety of which we doubt: and since it is our duty 
to refrain from the very appearance of evil, our heart and 
conscience will condemn us if we commit such an act: which 
is just Avhat is meant by the word "damned" in the quota- 
tion, nothing more nor less, for it is by our own hearts and 
intelKgence we are danmed, if even it is forever; and in 
the land of spirits, for it is our intelligence only that will 
live forever, and it is by knowledge we are damned. 

The operation of this covenant is very clearly shown 
by Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, begin- 
ning at verse 4; only bear in mind while reading, that their 
duties \n those days were different fropi the requirements 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 441 

of the agents of God of the present time; nevertheless, no 
two are required to perform the same work, even now, nor 
ever will. He says: "Now there are diversities of gifts, 
but the sarae Spirit. And there are differences of adminis- 
tration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of op- 
erations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.*' 1 
have all along in this work endeavored to show that each 
individual had in his heart a code of laws for his govern- 
ment, differing more or less from all others, simply because 
his individual duties to God, if properly performed, lead 
him in a different channel: and that all men be left with- 
out excuse in the Christian world, each one have these laws 
in their hearts to govern them, as soon as they emerge from 
the paternal government, and are strictly in accordance 
with his teaching or intellectual knowledge; and for any mis- 
construction of these laws we may receive some physical pun- 
ishment; but our heart and conscience will be clear if our 
effort to understand be with truth and honesty; and if we 
be punished for improper acts through ignorance, our stripes 
will be few. But however little knowledge a man may have, 
it can never remain the same unincreased if he perform his 
duty as a man of God who follows the Spirit : for, as I said 
before, the works of God are all progressive, and the sys- 
tem established by Himself to carry out those designs is 
such that e^xryone who tries to perform his part will re- 
ceive increase of knowledge commensurate with the duty 
to which he is assigned and the desire he has to perform 
it and please the Master. But we must remember the im- 
portant fact, which also agrees with our common reason, 
that though we have received but one talent, we must not 
bury it, but use it as diligently and carefully as though 
we had ten, and be content with its proportionate increase, 



442 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

For it is God^s work, and if we do not that to which we 
are assigned, though it be rough and in a low position, we 
are evidently wholly worthless to the Master, and conse- 
quently cast away among the rubbish, and however much 
we may flatter ourselves that during the construction we 
will be picked up and whittled into shape to fill some place 
in the building, w^e are doomed to disappointment: for God 
is under no obligation whatever to receive the material 
brought by any of the craft, if it be not exact when the 
square is applied; for they all receive full instruction as 
to quality and dimensions when they go to the quarry: and 
although the mercies of God are unbounded, prompting un- 
limited forgiving as often as forgiveness is asked: yet He will 
not on any account sacriiice or set aside the least princi- 
ple or feature in the great designs which He has marked 
out, to save any individual, nor even a nation. Whatever 
is incompatible with God, He must and will destroy, and 
cannot do otherwise. 

We come to speak now of the operation of the new 
covenant on youth and childhood. It is clearly shown in 
the Scriptures, both old and new, as well as in the laws of 
God written in men's hearts, that it is in accordance with 
the designs of the Creator that the child should obey its 
earthly father, and in all things be governed by him. It 
was plainly written in the Mosaic law, and I need not re- 
fer you to places in the ^ew Testament where such is spo- 
ken of to support the position that the paternal government 
is absolutely prerequisite to the spiritual, both' being, or 
should be, governments of God — the one indirect, and the 
other direct. And it is clear to my mind that they are the 
only two that will survive the ages of futurity and exist 
forever on the earth, to bring in subjection and perfect 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 443 

mankind. Therefore under this covenant the responsibil- 
ity of the parent is very great; whose duty it is to teach 
the child obedience, prepare it for the rule of the Spirit, 
and really shape its destiny. For since the carnal man is 
to be brought wholly under the influence of the spiritual, 
and made subject to its commands, in ord^r that the child 
may readily submit to the Spirit of God at the years of 
suitable maturity, when the father releases him from the 
paternal government, it is indispensably necessary that the 
parent subdue the carnal or human spirit during the period 
of tender years from infancy up, so that he may, by the 
command and example of the earthly father during these 
days of childhood, be properly educated and ready to accept 
the rule of the Spirit of God or his Heavenly Father; and 
he is, or should be, transferred directly from one to the 
other. Now in this I think no one will differ with me, for 
notwithstanding the paternal government is immensely de- 
ficient in this early period of the world, yet there is no one 
who cannot understand by the example before them the 
great necessity for the parent to govern and guard the 
child, and that there are different degrees of improvement' 
in the dift'erent systems adopted by parents. I also hold 
that all is under the government of the Spirit of God, whose 
operations are continually advancing and improving the 
human family; therefore the paternal government will keep 
pace in its improvement as long as there is vice and immor- 
ality in the world to contend mth, or until the carnal man 
is brought wholly in subjection to the rule of God by His 
Spirit in the heiarts of human beings. 

As we come to the close of this part of the subject, I 
ask you to pause a moment and look back again over the 
three great periods of the human family upon the earth. 



444 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

as I have endeavored to present them to you, under the 
heads of Animal, Intellectual, and Eternal, presided over 
by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the three di- 
visions of the Godhead, so arrayed and spoken of that he 
may be brought within the scope of man^s comprehension; 
and while the effort to present my views of this matter 
has been feeble and unsatisfactory, I hope you have my idea. 
And as you muse upon them, I call your attention to the 
fact that those great periods of the world are exemplified 
by childhood, youth, and manhood, the three stages through 
which each individual is required to pass, as did the nations 
of the earth. 

Man in his primeval days was like the infant, ignorant 
and intellectually helpless; and like the lower animals, de- 
pendent upon some other power for food and comfort. This 
power, applied to animals of the lower class, is called "in- 
stinct"; and although it is not defined and explained among 
men with their limited power and wisdom, it evidently was 
the operation of God, under the division of the Godhead 
called the rather, Who taught Adam and Eve to feed upon 
the herbs and fruits of the field, and clothed them with 
coats of skins and is nothing more nor less than God him- 
self, only thus named for man^s education, and to facilitate 
the manner of teaching him who the true and living God 
is. And as man was intended from the beginning for a 
higher and nobler purpose than other animals, the Father 
did open up to him the way of learning, and enable him to 
retain a knowledge of and systematize what he learned; and 
thus he continued to develop until his intelligence was suffi- 
cient to understand his word or command, while we find 
the operation of the Father remains the same among the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 445 

lower animals, it being quite sufficient to perfect them for 
the purposes of God. 

So is the infant of to-day — helpless and ignorant; and 
while God the Father does much for it under the head of 
the so-called ''instinct/' it needs the tender care and pro- 
tection of the earthly father, who is to be its direct gov- 
ernor during the two first stages of life. It knows no good, 
no evil, no right nor wrong, until the first command of the 
father be given; and while it may be allowed for a time 
thereafter to do evil unrestrained, sooner or later, accord- 
ing to development and understanding or the violence of 
evil acts, begins the fiery ordeal of subduing the animal 
spirit and bringing it in subjection to the will and spirit of 
the earthly father, and this age also corresponds with the 
"administration of condemnation^' spoken of, which was the 
time and efi'ect of introducing the Mosaic law, which did 
condemn their acts, and first taught them the right from 
the wrong. 

Here we find a very important matter for considera- 
tion. By turning 30ur mind upon the child under your own 
control, you see at a glance that ordinarily its conduct de- 
termines the time and character of correction. If the acts 
of the child be moderate, it may be allowed to continue for 
a time in disobedience; but if its acts become violent, pun- 
ishment immediately follows; and the more violent the act, 
the more immediate and peremptory the punishmen. So 
also is the system by which God governs the world. We 
see, by looking back over the past, that when the wicked- 
ness of a nation increased rapidly, that retributive justice 
hastened upon it, and w^as commensurate with the magni- 
tude of the ofiense, till in the days of Antichrist unbridled 
passion, lust, and consequent crime mounted up so rapidly 



446 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

as to demand a speedy destruction of the nations of the 
earth and overthroAV of their power: and while in the sys- 
tem of God mild rebukes were rendered for moderate 
offenses, Omnipotence did become enraged at the appall- 
ing wickedness of man, and was sufficient to conquer and 
defeat his most desperate ejffiorts; and that the most ter- 
rific destruction of the nations by the hand of God was has- 
tened by the violent and demoniacal effort of the Antichrist 
to destroy and crush out every opposing element, and es- 
tablish his will supreme, as is shown in Daniel (ch. 11). 

The second stage, called youth, now follows, during 
which time the child is governed by the word of the father, 
and receives its instructions as to the manner and great 
necessity of subduing his passions and keeping his carnal 
desires in due bounds, preparatory for assuming the respon- 
sibility of his own conduct in the world, commanded by' 
the Spirit of God, and to this end it is necessary from 
time to time to subject him to various reprovals and some- 
time sore chastisements; and it is most assuredly the duty 
of the parent to subdue the carnal spirit of the child and 
train him in such a way that it will not be difficult for him 
to obey the commands of the Spirit of Truth when dis- 
missed from the paternal government. Certainly you can- 
not fail to see that the responsibility of parents is very 
heavy, since the final and eternal destiny of the child de- 
pends to a very great extent upon the oarly training; for if 
the inclinations and craving desires of the body be allowed 
to have control over the individual unrestrained till he come 
to maturity, it is evidently a very difficult matter to bring 
those bodily demands under control of the Spirit of Truth, 
and in most all such cases the animal controls the intellect- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 447 

iial through life^, unless subdued by some sore and withering 
judgment of God. 

Now look at the second great period of the human fami- 
ly, during which time their duty to God was made known, to 
them through the Word, and as man at that age was more 
refractory and disobedient, we find that they were more 
sorely chastised to bring them in subjection and break down 
the power of the carnal spirit which led them away to their 
destruction and prevented the growth of intelligence, so 
necessary to fit them for agents of God, and hence the Word 
was accompanied by the rod of correction — the sword, fam- 
ine, and pestilence which were called the judgments- of God, 
b}^ which the nations were punished for every violation or 
disobedience to the commands by the Word; and man being 
so completely under control of the lusts and cravings of the 
body, the result was an almost continual warfare. But 
God, seeing that the nations, like a vile and self-willed son, 
grew worse and more corrupt under those ordinary rebukes 
and chastisements, resolved upon a dreadful punishment — 
an overwhelming destraction of all will and power that was 
set up in opposition to llim, which should bring them in 
subjection to the Spirit of the Father; and hence He said 
from time to time, "TJiey shall liioiv that I ara God'': as 
would an earthly father say of a disobedient son, "He shall 
know that I am the ruling power." 

The disobedient nations of the earth being thus broken 
down, to give place to God-fearing people, the world was 
considered in a fit state to be left to the rule of the Spirit 
of the Father, and assume the responsibility of its own 
acts; and while each individual is punished for his disobedi- 
ence to that Spirit (which is God within him) to the ex- 
tent that the evil demands, the national rod of correction 



448 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

is still from time to time actively used, and will continue to 
be until the nations are also wholly submissive to and gov- 
erned by the Spirit of Cod, which is His only agent on the 
earth to-day, or ever will be again, except that finally, when 
the work is complete, all men everywhere on the earth will 
be sons of God, as was Jesus the Christ in every respect, 
only the manner in which His physical body was produced — 
it, however, in itself being nothing more than flesh and 
blood, possessed of a human spirit as we. The conception 
only was divine, and in itself immaculate (if we have placed 
a correct interpretation upon the language of the Script- 
ures); but the production was a man — even a simple human 
being, who was guarded and kept clean and free from sin 
for the Spirit of the Father to dwell in and perform His 
work before the nations. And we become sons of God by 
virtue of that saiiie Spirit, as is declared by the Scriptures, 
though not being especially guarded by the hand of God 
as was He, but required to go through the regular and we 
may say natural process of refinement, it will be ages and 
perhaps cycles ere we become pure and as free from diso- 
bedience to the Spirit of the Father as He; nevertheless it 
must be in the course of eternity that man on the earth 
will attain to that perfect obedience, at which point the 
Father will never leave us, because we will constantly do 
the things which please him as did Christ, for He was an 
example of what we must finally be, and it is written, "Be 
ye holy, for I am holy.*' The mind of man as yet is too 
feeble to span the time and changes necessary to bring us 
up to that standard, and hence it is generally looked upon 
as impossible; nevertheless the human family is gradually 
improving, and Christ taught perfect obedience to the Spirit 
of the Father, which will make us, in every sense of the 
word, sons of the living God. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 449 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

Jesus as a Man. 

"And Ihou slialt call his name Jesus: for he shall save 
his people from their sins." (Matthew, eh. 1.) 

"His name was called Jesus, which was so named of 
the angel before he was conceived in the womb.'^ (Luke, 
ch. 2.) 

!N"ow I admit that it is an impossibility for one man to 
understand exactty the idea that 'another entertains of the 
relation which Jesus as a man bears to God. But it seems 
to me from the expressions of many very zealous and good 
men of the world, who love God and earnestly desire to 
please him, that they have a very indefinite idea, and un- 
philosophic, not according to the teaching of Jesus himself, 
nor the general operations of God. And hence they do not 
draw the line of distinction between Jesus and the Messiah, 
and therefore fail to observe the power and operation of 
the Spirit of God among men, as was intended to be shown 
and explained in Him : but looking upon Him as a God from 
infancy, discredit the idea that the Spirit of God would be 
just as powerful in any other man chosen for the purpose, 
not begotten in lust, who in every respect walked uprightly 
before God, not yielding to temptation or the suggestions 
of his human spirit. This, however, was impossible in that 
age, or even to-da}^, except he be especially guarded by a 
more than ordinary operation of the Spirit of God in him. 
But there is a time somewhere in the future of man's ca- 



450 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

reer on the earth, when air will be wholly governed by the 
Spirit of the Father and equally pure to God for His pur- 
poses, since in point of obedience Jesus was only an ex- 
ample of what man must attain even on the earth. For 
sin and iniquity, with all manner of disobedience, must pass 
away, and the earth be filled Avith the glory of God accord- 
ing to His own declaration; and when such is the case, will 
not all things be done under command of the Spirit of God ? 
Unquestionably, the will of God will be done on earth as it 
is in heaven; which condition of man Christ taught His 
disciples to pray for; and certainly the carnal spirit or spirit 
of man will lay dormant as did the spirit of Jesus as a 
man, to give place to the plenary rule of the Spirit of the 
Father. 

In giving my views of this very grave and important 
subject, I wish to say in the beginning, that however widely 
different they may be from the views of others in the Chris- 
tian world, they certainly will not detract from Jesus as 
the Messiah, which He undoubtedly was; not, however, by 
virtue of the immaculate conception, but the Spirit of God 
which controlled all of His actions. 

N"ow I wisl) you to refer to former pages of this work 
and refresh your memory as to what has been said of the 
composition of man. The first Adam was m.ade "a living 
soul." God made him of the dust of the earth, and he was 
in some way inanimate or lifeless until God breathed into 
his nostrils the breath of life. This evidently was the mor- 
tal spirit, which quickened the mortal body and formed a 
soul; and if left to itself without a knowledge of God and 
the influence of His Spirit, would unquestionably be mortal 
and powerless : and such was the condition of man during 
the long, dark, and miserable period from Adam to Christ, 



two Thousand Years in Eternity. 451 

and such would have been Jesus without the Spirit of God. 
The operation of this human spirit is to satisfy as far as 
possible the requirements as w^ell as tlie lusts of the body 
of flesh, which being unrestrained by the Spirit of God runs 
to excess, and the result is brutality, abomination to God, 
and death, terminating finally in a total extermination of 
the human family. 

Such is the composition of man, and such was Jesus 
as a man, for it is said that "He w^as in all points tempted 
like as we are, yet without sin.'^ (Hebrews, ch. 4, v. 15.) 
Please bear this in mind when we come to speak of the 
temptation, and also that it was said: "He shall give his 
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy w^ays. They 
shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot 
against a stone." God had provided this sacrifice, and it 
was necessary that He should guard it, for Jesus, in order 
to be the Christ, must necessarily live strictly according to 
the spirit of the law, and in His life fulfilled all prophecy 
concerning Himself; and but for the fact that the angels 
of God constantly ministered to His necessities in order 
that He be kept from sin, it is not at all unlikely that He 
would- have fallen a victim to the wiles of the devil. We 
must remember that while the conception was immaculate, 
the production was a man of flesh and blood — and evidently 
with the spirit of a man, or He could not have been tempted. 
He therefore was not God, though in course of time was 
made equal with God by virtue of His own carnal spirit be- 
ing fully sacrificed and forever silenced, and the Spirit of 
the Father filling its place in every respect. 

Now that He was not God, but a mian in every sense of 
the word, remember that He was in all points tempted like 
as we are, and was possessed of like passions; and James 



452 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

(ch. 1; vs. 13-14) said: "Let no man say when he is tempted, 
T am tempted of God: for God cannot he tempted with evil, 
neither tempteth he any man: hnt every man is tempted, 
when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." 

This quotation with the preceding, if there were no 
other evidences, wonld show beyond a doubt that Jesus 
alone was not God; and that within Himself He possessed 
no power beyond man to do the works of God, except by the 
will of the Father and the Spirit of God which was placed 
within Him, as the agent through whom the Father did 
operate, and that the body and Spirit of Jesus required and 
desired the same support, comforts, and pleasure with other 
men. He had the power to choose between good and evil as 
we, and He chose to do the will of the Father, and in His 
case it was the will of the Father that He should be the 
groat witness of God, and act in the capacity of the Holy 
One of Israel; which He knew would subject Him to great 
persecution, and a painful death in the discharge of His 
duties, for it had been thus prophesied, and hence He said: 

"I lay down my life for the sheep, therefore 

doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life. . . . 
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." 
(John, ch. 10.) 

Now our common reason-alone teaches us that Jesus 
was tempted by His own carnal spirit, which was like alt 
other men, and tlie quotation from tlie letter of St. James, 
.previously given, removes all doubt: and when He was in 
the wilderness forty days and forty nights without food. He 
was evidently very hungry, and knowing the power that the 
Messiah must necessarily receive from the Father for the 
performance of His duties, this spirit suggested the use of 
that power to make bread out of stones, to satisfy His ovioi 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 453 

body of flesh : but in the meantime, ere He made the at- 
tempt. He was reminded by the Spirit of the Father that 
it was His duty to teach mankind that they mnst not live 
by bread alone, and in order to clo this. He must Himself 
set the example, and live according to all that was written ; 
and hence, had He yielded to the cravings of the body of 
flesh and carnal spirit. He, like Saul, the first king over Israel, 
would have failed to fulfill the purposes of God and glorify 
Him; therefore He himself would not have been glorified, 
and no telling what the result might have been had not the 
angels of God kept close watch over Him. But He, like 
all the saints who were foreordained for a certain purpose, 
according to God^s OA\'n declarations, wias supported by His 
mighty arm and could not fall, for God intended to establish 
the world by His own hand. We also learn here that the 
body of flesh and carnal spirit of man is the devil which 
works in opposition to God, and as soon as the Father with- 
draws from man, this spirit takes possession of him and at 
once begins to drag him down to a miserable and debauched 
condition, as we see in 1 Chronicles, ch. 21; when God left 
David for a time, this same Satan tempted him to number 
Israel, and thereby brought great affliction on the nation. 
Another example is given in 2 Chronicles, ch. 32; when the 
ambassadors of the princes of Babylon came to Hezekiah, 
God left him to himself to see what was in his heart, and at 
once his pride prompted him to make a display of his wealth, 
which brought about his downfall. Let us read what was 
said of him and the occasion: '^And Hezekiah prospered 
in all his works. Howbeit in the business of the ambassa- 
dors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to in- 
quire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left 
him, to try him, that he might know all that wa>s in his 



454 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

heart." Tiirn now to Isaiah, chapter e39, and see what the 
result was, which is the same in all instances where the 
Spirit of God leaves man to the influence of his own carnal 
spirit — that is, he is led astray and does not the will of 
God, and such would have been the case with Jesus. "At 
that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of 
Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah : for he had 
heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hez- 
ekiah was glad of thein, and shewed them the house of his 
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, 
and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, 
and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing 
in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed 
them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Heze- 
kiah, and said unto him. What said these men? and from 
whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said. They 
are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. 
Then said he. What have they seen in thine house? And 
Hezekiah auswered. All that is in my house have they seen: 
there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed 
them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the 
Lord of hosts : Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine 
house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store un- 
til this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be 
left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from 
thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they 
shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'^ 

In the next temptation of Jesus He was anxious to 
satisfy His own individual being as to whether He was the 
Christ, not willing to wait and see, by prophecies being ful- 
filled in Him : He went up on a pinnacle of the Temple with 
th§ intention to cast Himself to the ground, but wats re- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 455 

minded, when He reached the top, that it was written in 
the law, '^Tliou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God^^; after 
which, had He persisted and cast Himself doAvn, He evidently 
would have lain a mangled and lifeless mass on the check- 
ered pavement below. And finally, when He w^ent to the 
top of the high mountain, and looked at the kingdoms of 
this world and the glory of them. He realized the fact that 
He would have to become a servant to His own carnal lust, 
which in the end would yield Him nothing but corruption, 
and that he would perish with the body He worshiped; and 
at once ordered this Satan away from Him, or to cease its 
efforts against the Spirit of God which struggled in Him; 
"being reminded also that it was written in the organic law 
of Moses, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him 
only shalt thou serve." At this point He realized that if 
He in the least degree be governed by His human spirit. He 
would not fulfill the prophecy and purposes of God, and 
hence He refused at once to ever listen for a moment to its 
cravings. I here refer you again to James, chapter 1, that 
you may understand the devil to be man^s own carnal lust, 
and ever was as it is to-day, nothing more and nothing less. 
James said : *^'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation : 
for when he is tried, he shall receive the cro^vn of life, which 
the Lord hath promised to them^ that love him. Let no 
man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God 
cannot be tempted Avith evil, neither tempteth he any man: 
but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his 
own lust, and enticed.*^ And it is said (Matthew, ch. 4): 
"Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and 
ministered unto him." Therefore you see the Devil left 
Him, or the cravings of His own physical being were 
silenced, or brought in subjection to that Spirit of Truth 



456 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

within Hini Avhich was indeed the ministering angels. Per- 
haps, for want of a proper understanding of these things 
on the part of the Christian world at this age, I hardly dare 
say that such is the case with ns when we resist tempta- 
tion; nevertheless, the iSpirit of God does comfort onr hearts 
and repay ns a himdred-fold for any sacrifice we make. 

Now that we have seen from previous quotations in this 
work that it is our privilege to understand all of the oper- 
ations of (jod with man, which were mysterious hefore the 
days of Christ, let us examine the philosophic cause of the 
immaculate conception. Luke (ch. 1) describes it as fol- 
lows: ^'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the 
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also 
that holy tiling which shall be born of thee, shall be called 
the Son of God." 

It is clear to my mind that God, in order to teach man 
his duty and enable him to know his Creator; did order all 
of His operations on the earth before the human family in 
accordance with that same system of reasoning which He 
had provided in the human, heart, for the understanding of 
all things brought before us ; and that this, man's only sys- 
tem of reasoning, must be satisfied, else the works of God 
for his benefit would have been vain, since one can never 
be an efficient servant unless he be well acquainted with 
his master and thoroughly understand his works. 

If we but go back in our imagination to the days when 
Jesus was born, when men were ignorant and almost all of 
the human family heathen, not knowing of the real power 
of the God of heaven, and just about to take the primary 
lesson, we at once see that it would have been impossible 
for them to look upon Jesus or any other man as the Son 
of God, except He be begotten of God; for there were other 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 457 

sons of God on the earthy and some whose production was 
equally mysterions with that of Jesus. For example: think 
of the manner in which Isaac germinated in the lifeless 
womb of Sarah, who had been barren all of her life to an 
old age, and had ceased to menstruate when the promise was 
made to Abraham that he should have a son by her. So 
also was John brought from a barren womb, when Eliza- 
beth and Zacharias were both stricken in years. In both 
instances the parties considered it an impossibility, and had 
abandoned the hope of offspring within themselves, and the 
Scriptures represent it in the same light: consequently we 
have no right to look upon it in any other way; therefore it 
required as much the direct operation of God to impregnate 
Sarah and Elizabeth as it did in the case of Mary: for cer- 
tainly none other than the power of the Highest could have 
been sufficient. But Isaac was promised to Abraham, and 
John to Zacharias, and hence, to satisfy their minds that 
the word of God is true, they were used as the media through 
which God acted; but in the case of Jesus it was necessary 
that no mortal man be used or Tcnotvn to le used as an agent 
in His production, for He was to be '^called'' the Son of 
God, and so recognized among men, which could not have 
been so understood then, nor perhaps yet, at this age of 
man, had He not been in some way to our understanding and 
belief begotten of God. This was not to satisfy God, for 
He was able to bring forth a child from the womb begotten 
of man pure and unstained to Himself; therefore it was to 
reconcile the world. 

Jesus in Himself was a man. God gave the spirit as 
in all other cases, and the body was made of the blood of 
Mary: and the blood of Mary could not have been much 
purer than the blood of her parents, and the promise to 



458 Two TJiousand Years in Eternity. 

David was that Christ should be raised iip of the fruit of 
his loins accordiiig to the flesh. Therefore His body must 
have been formed of the blood of Mary, which it* really was, 
and Mary must have been of the descendants of David, 
else the promise was not verified, though the genealogy is 
reckoned through Joseph; and while we see that Joseph 
was the fruit of the loins of David, it would bei a grievous 
mistake to say that Christ was raised of him ^''according to 
the flesh,'^ for it was not intended that man should so under- 
stand it. But for want of time to convey my ideas in full 
on this particular point, I will only say that the magnitude 
of the work accomplished by Jesus as the Messiah accord- 
ing to the words of prophecy is sufficient to cover such dis- 
crepancies, and show that He w^as the Holy One intended: 
for if the end be properly and fully accomplished, the inter- 
mediate work must have been complete. 

jSTow that Jesus was a man with no superhuman power 
in Himself, but that the power He exhibited was the Spirit 
of God within His physical being, which wholly subdued His 
human spirit, controlled it in every respect, and enabled 
Him to perform the work He was sent to do, and that with- 
out it He could do nothing; let us look for further evidence. 
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God.^^ (John, ch. 1.) The Son of 
God was also the Word of God; therefore the Word of God 
must be the Son of God, and "God is a Spirit." (John, ch. 
4, V. 24.) "A spirit hath not flesh and bones." (Luke, ch. 
24, V. 39.) Now we see that as the Word was God, that the 
Word was a spirit, and as "in the beginning was the Word," 
it could have been nothing less than God himself. There- 
fore the Word of God to man is simply God made manifest 
through some medium or agent intelligible to man^ as the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 459 

burning bush, the pillar of cloud, the holy prophets, and 
Jesus. But as Jesus was for an especial purpose, the Spirit 
of God operated in a different manner through Him, though 
I am hardly warranted in saying mth greater power, for He 
told the apostles that those who believed in Him could do 
aJl tJiat He did, "and greater things/^ (St. John, ch. 14, 
V. 12.) 

It is also said that '^the Word was made flesh and dwelt 
among us/^ InTow from the preceding quotations and the 
very many places in the Scriptures shoeing emphatically 
that there is but one God, and that God is a spirit, there is 
no room for any other conclusion than that the apostle 
means that the body of flesh was prepared for the Spirit or 
Word of God to dwell. in. Eemember that the angel said 
to Mar}^, He "shiall be called the Son of God": in which we 
can hardly mistake the intention that the whole process was 
to satisfy or reconcile the reasoning faculties of man, and 
in no respect necessary to the well-being of God. He wa^ 
not, however, begotten in licentiousness, but He certainly 
had the nature of Mary, for "He took not on Him the na- 
ture of angels'' (Hebrews, ch. 2, v. 16), and had not the 
nature of God (if allowed the expression), for He was to be 
like His brethren, and in Himself was powerless ; which He 
tried to teach and make the apostles and disciples under- 
stand, saying, ^■'The Son can do nothing of himself/' (John, 
ch. 5, V. 19.) In which it is clear enough that He refers to 
the body and spirit of Jesus, which was the representation 
of the Son of God.) "I can of mine own self do nothing: 
as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek 
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath 
sent me." (John, ch. 5, v. 30.) "I do nothing of myself; 
but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." 



460 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

(John, ch. 8, v. 2S.) iVnd in all of His works He tiaught 
them tliat it was the Father in him which did all things ; 
and as evidence that He ^\'as to show the power o"f the Spirit 
of God to purify man, and that it did do so, He told His disci- 
ples not to call any man on earth their father, for they had 
but one, who was the Father in heaven. (Matthew, ch. 23, 
V. 9.) Perhaps he was talking to the elect; nevertheless it 
proves my position, that the power of the Spirit of God was 
sufficient to purify any man chosen of God, though he be 
begotten of man. Indeed, man must and will ultimately 
on the earth be as clean and pure to God, in perfect obedi- 
ence from the cradle to the tomb, as was Jesus; and to this 
end came He into the world, and thus even taught men 
that the will of God would be done on earth as it is in heav- 
en; and said to His disciples, in His sermon on the mount, 
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
heaven is perfect.'^ (Matthew, ch. 5, v. 48.) 

But I wish to say a word here for the benefit of skep- 
tics, who do not accept Jesus as the Son of God: that I ad- 
mit there was great opportunity for fraud in the impregna- 
tion of Mary, and good grounds for disbelief, had we noth- 
ing more than her declaration, and the objects of God had 
not been carried out by the child produced. Indeed, He 
never would have created a single ripple on the great sea 
of life; and the circumstances with poor Mary would have 
soon passed away from the mind of every creature on earth. 
But what do we find in support of her virtue, and the ver- 
ity that Jesus was begotten of God? Did He not live ac- 
cording to the spirit of the law, which was impossible for 
any other man to do? Did He not heal the sick, cast out 
devils, raise the dead, and preach to the poor? Did He not 
fulfill all prophecy concerning Himself, and die on the cross 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 461 

according to the word of God? Was He not raised from 
the dead and taken up to the Father in the presence of wit- 
nesses? Yes, all this; bnt I hear you say, "We only have 
their evidence historically given that such was accom- 
plished/' This I deny; you are mistaken; look over the world 
to-da}', and see the powerful influence His name has ex- 
erted among men and nations, and still spreading and dif- 
fusing itself throughout the earth, like the leaven in the 
three measures of meal. Nay, but we are not called upon 
at this age to believe in Jesus because of the works He did 
on the earth two thousand years ago: but we are forced to 
believe, because of the result of those works with which 
we are surrounded at the present time, and by which we 
are daily influenced, seeing that the works of Christ and 
the present conditions of man are strictly in accordance 
with prophetic revelation, and that the work He began 
with but a handful of men is still progressing and develop- 
ing more and more a knowledge of the true God, and de- 
stroying all organized influences in opposition thereto; 
and beginning to bring to the minds of many with some de- 
gree of force the fact that the declaration of God, thous- 
ands of years ago, will be verified, and all the earth filled 
with His glory. 

Now while I remind you, as before, that Jesus was not 
conceived in licentious lust, and therefore pure to God 
from the womb, we mast begin to learn and understand 
that there are many, even very many in the world at the 
present day who were not begotten in licentiousness, but 
the act was prompted by the kSpirit of God in the heart, 
and hence was by the will and consent of God; but this 
does not prevent the natural, animal passions in the off- 
spring, and perhaps excessive. So ^vith Jesus; while we 



462 Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

do not suppose His various passions were remarkably strong, 
nevertheless they amounted to lust, or He- never could have 
been tempted ^"'in all points'^ as we are; but, by the aid of 
the Father, He was kept from sin, and enabled to over- 
come all evil presented to him, and finally subdue all those 
passions and bring them wholly in subjection to the will 
of the Father, which v/as the Spirit of Truth within Him. 
So must we sooner or later bring our every action and de- 
sire wholly under the requirements of the Spirit of God 
(which is our intellectual reason guided by Truth) ere we 
can hope to live with Him in peace. Perhaps it is well at 
this point to s^y, that as man advances in intelligence, and 
is brought more fully under control of the Spirit of Grod, 
there will be fewer of the human family conceived in sin- 
ful licentiousness, and finally, when that Spirit becomes 
the supreme governor of man's actions (as it certainly will), 
he will also reproduce his kind under Its command, and 
the offspring be brought forth pure to God and kept for- 
ever ignorant of sin; there will also be fewer conceptions. 
And when man is thus begotten by the Spirit of God, is 
he not in reality begotten of God? And when thus begot- 
ten, are they not, in every sense of the word, sons of God? 
Pldase take this matter into your private consideration; 
think carefully upon it, and learn according to your rea- 
sonable intelligence more of the great wisdom, power, and 
manner of operation of the Spirit of an omnipotent God, 
and the exalted position for which man is intended. But 
let us turn again to the Scriptures. 

It is said of Jesus that "the child grew, and waxed 
strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God 
was upon him." (Luke, ch. 2, v-, 40.) Now "grace'' means 
favor, or pleasure of God, and can mean nothing more. In 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 463 

verse 52 it is also said that "Jesus increased in wisdom and 
stature, and in favor with God and man." In the preced- 
ing chapter it was said of John that he also "grew, and 
waxed strong in spirit." Now notwithstanding He said to 
his mother, "I must be about my Father's business," as 
shown in chapter 2, He did not know certainly that He wias 
to be the Christ, though no doubt He believed he was thus 
doing the will of God, and that He was chosen for some 
certain purpose of God, as did Jeremiah, who was not con- 
vinced, until his prophecies began to be verified: and so 
was Jesus to know that He was the Messiah by prophecy 
being fulfilled in Him: and the first evidence w/as when the 
Lord God put His Spirit upon Him, according as He had 
declared through the holy prophets, which was done at the 
time of his baptism, when the voice was heard in heaven, 
saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
Notwithstanding He and John both believed that He was 
the Christ, from what passed between them before he was 
baptized, as shown in Matthew, chapter 3, as follows: 
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, 
to be baptized of hini. But John forbade him, saying, I 
have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: 
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Tlien 
he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went 
up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were 
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descend- 
ing like a dove, and lighting upon him; and, lo, a voice from 
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased.'* This was the first evidence to Jesus, because it 
was in accordance with what the prophet Isaiah (ch. 42) 
foretold — thus: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; 



464 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my 
Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gen- 
tiles.^^ Yet they did not know certainly until He stood the 
test of temptation, and found that He was living accord- 
ing to the spirit of the law, and fulfilling all prophecies; 
for John, after the baptism, when in prison, sent to Jesus 
to know, asking Him: "Art thou he that should come, or 
do we look for another?" And in reply Jesus told them: 
"Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear 
and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, 
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are 
raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.*' 
(Matthew, ch. 11.) Observe His answer; He did not tell 
John that He was the Christ, but referred him to the ful- 
filling of prophecies. 

Now, while all the prophets Avere to know they were 
ordained of God by their prophecies coming to pass. He 
also was to know He was chosen or sent as the Messiah by 
those prophecies being fulfilled in Him as such: and the 
longer He lived in accordance therewith, the more He waa 
confirmed that He was the Messiah, to the day of His trans- 
figuration; at which time He was fully confirmed, and the 
Spirit of the Father in every respect took the place of 
His own carnal spirit, and it was thenceforth impossible 
for the latter to control any of His acts, words, or thoughts. 
In the beginning of His career, He was told by the Spirit 
of the Father that He was the Christ, and so acted and 
talked; as when Jeremiah was told, when a boy, that he 
was known of God before he was made, and that he was 
intended to prophesy before the people; but it was impos- 
sible for him as a man to be thoroughly convinced, except 
he witness some of the practical results provided as the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 465 

means by vvliich human beings are reconciled in the truth 
of their belief; and Jesus was a human being, and required 
those practical clemoiistrations; without which He never 
would have known that He was the Christ: neither would 
He have leen. He was not called nor known as the Son of 
God until after His baptism: neither was He properly the 
Messiah; nor did the prophets so consider Him, as is to be 
seen by the time of His coming given in Daniel (ch. 9), 
and certainly the ^'anointing of the Most Holy" was when 
He was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon Him: 
from which time it may be supposed that it never left Him 
(though His own had yet to be taught obedience to it) : and 
hence He was the Son of God, for the Word of God is the 
Son of God; and Jesus from that time had the Spirit of 
God, and was given such Avords as the Father desired spoken 
before men. Of course. He did not hear those words with* 
His own natural ear; but by yielding Himself wholly to 
the Spirit and purposes of God, and never for a moment 
consulting nor satisfjang His own spirit. He knew the lan- 
guage prompted and ideas conveyed within His heart were 
by the Father, and could not have been otherwise. So to- 
day, when men yield themselves wholly to the Spirit of God, 
sacrificing their own personal necessities and desires, then 
God the Father speaks through them by word or act, and 
they become thus far sons of God: and hence the inspira- 
tion of man, which we have not time here to speak of far- 
ther than to say, that men are inspired at the present day 
for the purposes of God, as much as they ever were accord- 
ing to His requirements. But in that day the action of the 
Spirit in the hearts of men was something new to the hu- 
man family, and strange even to the apostles, so that they 
could not wholly understand in many instances, when Jesus 



466 Two Thousand Years in Bterniiy. 

spake, that it was the language of the Father in Him; so 
also is it rlifficult among men to-day to discriminate be- 
tween language prompted by the Spirit of God- in them and 
that called forth by their own personal spirit and selfish 
motives. 

In support of my previous remarks I now call your at- 
tention to St. John, chapter 8, and quote a. portion, as fol- 
lows: "But he that sent me is true, and I speak to the 
world those things which I have heard of him. They un- 
derstood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then 
said Jesus unto them. When ye have lifted up the Son of 
man, then shall ye knov,^ that I am he, and that I do noth- 
ing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak 
these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father 
hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that 
please him.^^ And this last sentence shows plainly the 
reason why He has the Spirit of the Father, as I gave be- 
fore; that is. He sacrificed His own physical desires to do 
the will of God. 

J^sus endeavored at all times to show the difference 
between Himself as a man and God the Father. He said, 
"I can of mine ownself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and 
my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, 
but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (St. John, 
ch. 5) Again He said, "Aly doctrine is not mine, but his 
that sent me. If any man Avill do his will, he shall know 
of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own 
glory." (St. John, ch. 7.) ^ow had Jesus consulted His 
own physical desires and been governed by them. He would 
no longer have been the Son of God, for He would not 
have had the Word of God, and His works and teaching, or 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 467 

such as He would have been capable of under the influence 
of His own spirit, would have been without effect and soon 
forgotten or looked upon by all as the works of an impostor : 
and I think this a plain proposition, and wholly accords 
with the tenor of all the Scriptures. 

St. John (ch. 12, vs. 49-50) also shows as the above, 
that He was entirely governed by the Spirit of the Father 
wdthin Him, and not by His own, which was sacriiiced, and 
He became a vessel for the Spirit of God to dwell in, and 
communicate with man; and we see from the manifesta- 
tions in the days of Moses, that it was necessary for Omnip- 
otence to clothe Himself in some body intelligible to us; 
for ^^no man can see God's face and live.'' 

But there are many other evidences that Jesus was 
but a man apart from the Spirit of God. We see that His 
passion of anger sometimes rose and was plainly manifest- 
ed, as in the case when He entered the synagogue on the 
Sabbath day, and saw tlie man with the withered hand and 
all the Jews watching to see if He would heal him on 
the Sabbath, that they might accuse; Him: "He looked 
round about on them with anger," and told the man to 
stretch forth his hand. (Mark, ch. 3, v. 5.) He also went 
into the Temple and threw out those who sold oxen, sheep, 
and doves; threw over the tables of the money-changers, 
and made a scourge of small cords to whip them with 
(Matthew, eh. 21; Ma^Iv, ch. 11; Luke, ch. 19; John, ch. 2); 
thus appealing to His own phj^sical exertions, which doubt- 
less, however, was sanctioned by the Father, for it was not 
to satisfy the craving of His own body of flesh and blood; 
nevertheless, it was a man's act, and prompted by the' hu- 
man nature. When He went among His owoi kin to teach, 
.they would not accept Him as the Christ, nor believe His 



468 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

doctrine, and the Avriter says He was astonished at their 
unbelief. (Mark, ch. 6.) This shows He knew nothing ex- 
cept what was given Him of the Father and - pertained to 
the work. This Spirit of the Father was given Him for 
the purpose of performing the work laid out in the legiti- 
mate channel of God's great designs: hut He could not 
have used that Spirit and power to satisfy carnal lust,. nor 
comply with any demands of the hod}^, beyond an absolute 
necessity for the performance of the work assigned him: 
that is, as soon as he turned away from the Truth dictated 
to Him through His intellectual abilit}^, thus far He would 
have lost His power, and if persisted in, would have finally 
destroyed it. And so with men to-day: they have thiat 
Spirit within them to dictate the right, and when they step 
aside from the truth, they become worthless to that ex- 
tent, and when there is no more truth in them, then there 
is no more of God in them, and hence they are lost and 
ruined. 

God swore to David "that of the fruit of his loins ac- 
cording to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his 
throne." (Acts, ch. 2, v. 30.) He also promised and did 
raise up Cyrus according to the flesh, through whom he 
operated. In Acts, chapter 10, it is said: "God anointed 
Jesus of ISTazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power: 
who went about doing good, and healing all that were op- 
pressed of the devil, for God was with him." Hencei He 
was only the vessel of flesh and agent of the Spirit of God, 
and thus spoke the words which the Father put into His 
mouth: and the Word of God is the Son of God. Romans, 
ch. 8, V. 14, says: "For as many as are led by the Spirit 
of God, they are the sons of God." 

Jesus, being a man, feels the need of the help of the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 469 

Father, and hence He seeks solitude, and prays to God as 
other men. It is said He rose up a great while before day, 
and went away into a solitary place and prayed. (Mark, 
ch. 1.) "He departed into a mountain to pray." (Mark, 
ch. 6.) He unquestionably obtained power by obedience to 
the will of God, and had to seek assistance from the Father 
as men to-day. He said : "I and my Father are one.'^ (St. 
John, ch. 10, V. 30.) And again He says, speaking of the 
Father: "Ye have neither heard his voice at aaiy time, nor 
seen his shape.*' (Johr^ ch. ?, v. 37.) From tliis )^ou know 
that in speaking of Himself, in connection with the Father, 
He has no reference to His o^vn body and spirit, as a man 
which in itself was poT^^erless as He said. 

Turn now to Hebrews, ch. 5, vs. 7-8, for evidence that 
Jesus as a man was not perfect in the beginning, though 
He was mthout sin — that is. He did not bow to the lustful 
demands of the body: nevertheless, in His nature desired 
those carnal pleasures as other men. The writer in speak- 
ing of Him said: "Who in the days of his flesh, when he 
had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying 
and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, 
and was heard, in that he feared; though he were a son, 
3^et learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. ' 
Xow do you not see clearly that His sufferings and priva- 
tions were to wholly subdue the flesh and prepare Him for 
the great and sublime purpose of saving the world, by 
bringing man back to a knowledge of the true God who 
made him? 

If we think over His life, avc cannot fail to seie that 
His sufferings were great. His first lesson was fasting in 
the wilderness alone forty days and forty nights; and who 
among us can have the slightest conception of His agony 



470 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and distress of mind and body during the time? for it was 
not only tlie gnawing pain of hnnger with which His body was 
sorely afflicted; but he mnst here look into the future, and 
see Himself wending His way beneath the frowns of all 
mankind, who would spurn and persecute Him for His teach- 
ing, and subject Him to all manner of ridicule and shame. In 
His lonely meditations during those forty days in the wil- 
derness (and I mean lonely indeed: for since He was to be 
tempted, Ho had not the comforting influence of the Spirit 
of God) He realized, while counting the cost, that He must 
be poor, very poor, all of His days, and in consenuence of 
having no permanent abiding-place, no home. He must nec- 
essarily suffer great priyations and much distress,- with only 
here and there a place, and at long intervals, where He 
could lie down to rest His body and sleep in peace beneath 
the roof of a friend free from danger: for He must also 
know they would seek His life: and not only so, but that 
His final destiny was to be taken by them, and subjected 
to oppressive ridicule and burning shame, and finally killed 
in some torturing and ignominious manner: and that His 
own spirit must be so subdued that He could bear all pa- 
tiently without opening His mouth against them or resent- 
ing their offenses in the slightest degree. Now let us think 
carefully of this matter, for these were only some of the 
trying things that engaged His thoughts during those forty 
days and nights of solitary meditation before the work be- 
gan: and who among us to-day would dare say these were 
not sufferings? Yes, they were, and far beyond what any 
of us could wholly consent to undergo: and these were the 
sufferings which perfected Him for the great work: for you 
must bear in mind, His work was not confined to the eiarth, 
for He left His apostles to do the work here which He be-^ 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 471 

gan for them, and His principal work was to preach to the 
spirits in prison. "And being miade perfect, hei became the 
author of eternal salvation nnto all them that obey him." 
(Hebrews, ch. 5.) 

Christ was divine, but Jesus was a man of the fruit of 
the loins of David according to the flesh; and was guarded 
and prepared by the Father for the office of Messiah, and 
only allowed such knowledge by the Spirit • a$ was neces- 
sary for His preparation. He possessed the same natural 
spirit with all men, dreaded bodily suffering just as much, 
and was subjected to it as we are; and when the Spirit of 
the Father was withdrawn from Him, He was just as in- 
capable to bear the pain. We must sooner or later realize the 
indubitable fact that the -Spirit of God is all the power there 
is, all that ever ivas, and oJl that ever ivill he: for God him- 
self is a Spirit, and beside Him ^Hhere is no othe?-" : and it 
is that Spirit Avhich made Jesus the Christ, and it is that 
Spirit which to-day makes us sons of the living God: with- 
out it, we are lifeless, worthless, and doomed to everlast- 
ing death: and I cannot refrain from saying just here: 
That Spirit is God. Now for evidence that the above is 
true relative to Jesus, go to the garden of Gethsemane, 
where He declared to His disciples that His "soul was ex- 
ceedingly sorrowful unto death": there He earnestly cried, 
and also plead with the Father, while suffering the agony 
of mind, dreading the excruciating pain and torture of 
hanging to the rough merciless timber, to which He was to 
be securely spiked. It is said an iangel from heaven appeared 
unto Him to strengthen Him. "And being in an agony, 
he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were 
great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke, 
ch. ^2; V, 44.) Such mental agony in anticipation of the 



472 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. ^ 

reality of physical pain can only be experienced by a bu- 
man being such as we are, for it does not belong to God; 
nor did He suffer more than you or I, had we been nailed 
to the merciless and damnable cross. And what was the 
burden of His prayer in the intensity of His desire? Was 
it not that there be some way provided by which He might 
escape the horrible death? Certainly; and He even remind- 
ed the Father that all things were possible unto Him, and 
asked again, saying, "Take awaij this cup from me"; but 
quietly submitted to the will, by the Spirit of the Father. 
Do you not in this see the human being, body and spirit? 
It was unmistakably His own human spirit thJat revolted at 
the dreadful suffering of His mortal body. 

In conclusion, I call your attention to one more cir- 
cumstance related in Matthew, ch. 27, and Mark, ch. 15, in 
support of my views, that Jesus, apart from the Spirit of 
the Father, was a man, and not God. This occurred during 
the actual suffering of the body on the cross, after He had 
hung nearly three dreadful hours; it seems that the Spirit 
of God was withdrawn from Him, and we hear Him cry- 
ing in agon}', as other poor suffering human beings, and 
calling to the Father, "My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me ?" 

We must sooner or later learn and understand, as was 
said to Zerubbabel relative to building the Temple, that the 
great works accomplished on the earth, are "not by might, 
nor by povvTr, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." 
(Zechariah, ch. 4, v. 6.) All things are accomplished by the 
operation of the Spirit of God the Father, in the hearts of 
men, or by a withdrawal of that Spirit, leaving them to 
their own carnal inclinations: the latter being the devil 
and his works, while the former is the works of God, and 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 473 

all who do not believe in the operation of His Spirit can- 
not he saved hy it. 

Jesus was but a man, made and prepaTed as the vessel 
through which God spake, and made Himself known to the 
human family, when they became sufficiently developed 
mentally to understand the operation of spiritual things: 
and it is obvious that He could not have performed the. 
work, nor oven accomplished more than any intelligent hu- 
7nan being, had He been left to Himself. Nevertheless He 
became the Son of God, and equal with God, by virtue of 
the Spirit of the Father which controlled Him in all things: 
and my object in thus speaking or A^rriting this chapter is 
to impress upon the minds of my fellow-men the power of 
God in the human heart, when we yield ourselves wholly 
to its influence. ]Not that we could perform, the siame work 
which Christ did: for that needs not to be repeated; but 
there are other great works to be accomplished, which can 
only be done by those of the human family who wholly 
yield themselves, body and spirit, to the continuous rule 
of the Spirit of the Father. And in conclusion I must say, 
as it is forced upon me by the Spirit of Truth, that the. day 
mil come, somewhere in the future of the world's history, 
when our Lord's prayer will be fully realized, "Thy will be 
done in earth as it is in heaven,'' and the earth will be filled 
with the glory of God. 



474 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

Jesus as the Messiah, and His Mission. 

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
the sons of God.'^ (Eomans, ch. 8, y. 14.) 

Xow AA'hile the immaculate conception was for the pur- 
pose of satisfying the minds of human beings then igno- 
rant of the power of the Spirit of God, and enable them to 
look upon Jesus as the Son of God, thereby facilitating the 
operation of restoring or bringing man to a knoAvledge of 
the true and liying God, Who is a Spirit, we can at the 
present day see and understand, that it Ayas by following 
the Spirit of the Father that He was perfected and made a 
vessel suitable as the permanent dAyelling-place for the 
Spirit; at which time He was introduced to man as the 
Christ or coming Messiah: His rnission being to enlighten 
the Gentiles and save His people from their sins. So also 
were other sons of God equally prepared for minor pur- 
poses prior to the coming of Christ, and filled their place 
to a great degree of perfection, though not to such perfect 
satisfaction and pleasure of the Father as did Jesus: nor 
could it haye been expected, since with Him God had re- 
solyed to bring unfailing salvation by His OAvn hand, as 
Israel failed to carry out the designs of Him who had sworn 
that the whole earth should be filled with His glory, 
and hence the necessity of guarding well the agent 
through whom He operated, or in whom He placed 
His Spirit, according to His words by the prophet, as 



Two Tliousand Years in Eternity. 475 

follows: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine 
elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit 
upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." 
(Isaiah, ch. 42.) It is plainly to he seen that the entire 
work, from the beginning to the ending, in all of its parts 
and influences, was the work of God, Who is a Spirit; there- 
fore all material things were but agents through which the 
Spirit operated, and could not possibly be God. The Father 
was that Spirit which operated upon man in his primeval 
jdays, teaching him how to preserve his physical life and 
propagate his species: and the admonitions were without 
open demonstration by the Author, but placed silently within 
the being of each individual. The Son was the actual words 
or commands of God attended with open and comprehensi- 
ble proof of the great Creator; and began its operations 
when man's intelligent reasoning faculties were sufficiently 
developed to enable him io begin a search for Cause: whose 
duty was to continually direct man's inquiry to the God of 
heaven, and, at the proper period of development, satisfy 
his intelligent mind that the unseen God was the Creator 
of the entire universe, and the soul-power controlling the 
destinies , of all things on the earth. And had not man's 
growing intellect and power of reason been thus directed, 
it seems plain to me thai it would have been exhausted or 
stung itself to death in the monotonous search among mate- 
rial things for the great Cause of causes; and perished for- 
even in the decajdng mass of perishable things. The mind 
of man would have been the hot-bed of all possible super- 
stitious imaginations; and the human family, during its 
comparatively short career on the earth, would have pre- 
sented nothing more than a scene of most horrifying chaos. 
The mind of man, being relatively infinite, must have some- 



476 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

thing infinite to feed upon, in order to live in a healthful 
condition of peace and happy contentment, since it can 
never he satisfied with material and perishahle things; and 
hence the great wisdom of God provided a way by which his 
Word of instruction was conveyed to the understanding of 
man at an early period of developing reason, and thus pre- 
pare his mind for a conclusive and ultimate decision, which 
could never be shaken nor changed by subsequent events; 
that the God and creative power of the universe, which also 
controls the destiuies of all things, both spiritual and mate- 
rial, is a Spirit, and operates spiritually upon material things, 
as Avell as subordinate spirits, in the producing as well as 
controlling all things existing, whether spiritual or material. 

This Word of God with open demonstration and ar- 
ticulated sounds intelligible to the minds of His elect, who- 
were especially prepared in that age of grdat ignorance of 
the human family, as agents of the Creator, through whom 
the growing intelligence and reason of the masses of man- 
kind was led and directed, began with Moses at the burn- 
ing bush. 

Xow I wish to say a few words here for the benefit of 
those who are skeptical — persistently refusing to believe 
in the Word of God to man, and the Messiah and His mis- 
sion, or who cannot fully comprehend the necessity of such 
operations, and yet believe in a God who created all things. 

We see, and can easily understand from man's pres- 
ent condition, that he is a being of intelligence, capable of 
reasoning beyond the necessities of a mere subsistence and 
the propagation of his own species: and hence he must be, 
as is indicated in the primary part of the Scriptures, an 
agent of God, who was to take charge of and control His 
works on the earth under the supervision of His Spirit, 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 477 

which is a part of and the same with Himself: and what I 
mean by the foregoing is that the Spirit in the heart of 
each individual, which is his gnide at this age, and will be 
forever in the future, is only a part (though quite sufficient, 
is only a very small part) of the creative, omnipotent and 
omniscient Spirit which fills all space and extends on, and 
yet on, and on, until the mind and comprehensive powers 
of man is exhausted, and then it fills all space on and yet 
on for ever. This is what we call God: and though invisi- 
ble, man, in order to be an efficient agent, must have more 
or less of the powers of that being for whom he acts; and 
not only so, but he must know his Master; that is, he must 
be to a greater or less degree acquainted with that Superior 
Being or Ruling Power and His designs, as well as His 
manner of issuing orders or giving commands. 

^'Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honor, 
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy 
pleasure they are and were created.^^ (Revelation, ch. 14, 
V. 11.) We certainly can not doubt that God created all 
things for His own use and purposes; which being the case, 
what we have said in the preceding paragraph must be true 
that man was intended ns His agent on the earth, and to 
be governed by His commands. Now I ask if it was not 
necessary, according to our common-sense reason, to inaug- 
urate some system of communicstion between the Creator 
and His creatures, in order that the latter understand and 
carry out the designs of the former? Yes, I hold it to be 
an incontrovertible fact that the intelligent reasoning mind 
of man, which God has given him, also needed a guide to 
lead him to a knowledge of that Creator and His system of 
contined communication with His creatures. 

Man alone is not God, nor was he given in the beginning 



478 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

the power and intelligence of God; therefore, if left to him- 
self, and the commnnication severed between him and his 
Creator, it wonld be an impossibility for him to nnderstand 
and carry out the designs of his Master; and hence he would 
be a useless and worthless being, not even possessed of the 
power to prolong his existence, and the human family would 
perish from their imbecility. Perhaps my idea would be 
better understood to say; that there is no intellect short of 
the intelligence of God, that is self -existing ; and hence it 
is necessary that we receive daily support and instruction 
from the great Source of all knowledge, and it is dealt out 
to us according to our necessities, in carrying out the de- 
signs of the Architect of the universe. And from the very 
nature of man, as seen and understood to-day, it was also 
necessary that he look up to some superior being as the 
great Author and Governor of all things existing. And 
no man can support, by any system of common-sense reason, 
any other position than that the Creator,, who or whatever 
It may be, did intend that His creatures should look to Him 
who created them, and not another, as the true Source and 
great Cause of all causes, omnipotent and omniscient. That 
power we call God; and in contradistinction to the material 
things of the earth, which were looked upon as the source 
of omnipotence and called gods. He has been known as "the 
God of heaven.^' 

Now I hold that it is a simple and axiomatic fact 
(though it may be opposed by some complicated system of 
reasoning called •'science") that unless God the Creator had 
provided a way by which man's intellect was directed to Him, 
as the source of all power, it wo aid have been impossible 
for the creature to look beyond material things for their 
origin, and would have ever been governed by the carnal 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 479 

spirit, which only serves to satisfy the wants and lusts of 
the physical being; and man would, have groped his way 
in dark and superstitions uncertainties until complicaited 
conflict and non-productive licentiousness Avould have swept 
him from the face of the earth. 

God most certainly did originate and establish the 
plan by which man's intelligence was directed to a spiritual 
Source beyond material things; and teaches that there is 
a spiritual communication, since it was impossible for the 
creature to do so, and it is but reiasonable to suppose that 
God selected man himself as the agent through which He 
operated to educate the human family— indeed, it would be 
contrary to our natural reason, to suppose that any other 
agent would have been chosen; ancl hence I accept the plan 
given in the volume of the Scriptures — that individuals 
were raised up through whom the Creative Spirit operated, 
thereby instituting a prophetic system, which culminated 
in Jesus the Christ or Messiah, Who was to be recognized 
as the Son of that spiritual Power which did bring all things 
into existence, and was called '^the Faithful Witness of 
God/^ 

I cannot conceive a better way of teaching the power 
of the great spiritual God of heaven than by foretelling 
coming events: and since the great controlling power in all 
things, is spiritual, and cannot be material; it does seem 
most philosophic that the poor, despised, and powerless 
Nazarene, or some one in the most humble and helpless posi- 
tion in life, should be selected to show forth the power of 
the Spirit, and place the fear of that God in the hearts of 
men. And as evidence of the truth that the entire course 
was the work of God, we find the name .of Jesus of Naza- 
reth, by the power of that Spirit, has spread through the 



480 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

length and breadth of the whole earth; either to be rever- 
enced and worshiped as the Son, or servant of God, or rec- 
ognized as the only power set np in opposition* to the gods 
of the earth. And upon an examination of our hearts, we 
are forced to the conclusion that the present state of civili- 
zation and cultivated morality is consequent upon the fear 
of that unseen spiritual God, presented to us by the proph- 
ets, Christ, and the apostles, however much individuals may 
deny it: and further, that our present state of enlighten- 
ment and moral culture; which has produced great pros- 
perity and comparative peace and rest, dates its beginning 
with the advent of this same Jesus, Who was born at Beth- 
lehem of Judeah, Who lived a meek and humble life, and 
with great patience and endurance taught men ever}^where 
and at all times to fear the God of heaven and obey the 
law of His Spirit placed in their hearts: and to-day there 
is not a single being, male or female, in the Christian world, 
who does not greatly enjoy the fruits of His labor, though 
many persistently refuse to give Him the glory. 

Again, when we look back to the condition of the hu- 
man family prior to the days of this man Jesus, when they 
feared not the God of heaven, and the earth was an almost 
continuous scene of bloodshed and carnage, aiid the social 
circle a theatre of licentious debauchery, we are forced to 
acknowledge that our present comparatiively happy condi- 
tion is strictly in accordance with the words of the prophet 
many hundred years ago. I quote a part of what was said 
by Jeremiah (chapter 32) relative to those who worshiped 
the God of heaven and accepted His Spirit as their guide 
under the preaching of the gospel during the day of sal- 
vation : "Behold,* I will gather them out of all countries, 
whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, 



Tloo Thousand Years in Eternity. 481 

and in great wrath;" [remember that they were gathered 
out of all nations on the earth by preaching the gospel 
among them; and they then constituted the Christian na- 
tion.] "and I will bring them again unto this place, and I 
will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be my peo- 
ple, and I will be their God : and I will give them one heart, 
and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good 
of them, and of their children after them: and I will make 
an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn 
away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear 
in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." 

King Solomon uttered one of the most profound truths 
when he said, '^Tlie fear of the Lord is the heginning of wis- 
dom." But I imagine I hear many who read this say, that it 
is nothing more than the capacity and intellectual power of 
man, according to his natural organization, to sooner or 
later understand the great truths of the Creator, which were 
to lead him to a satisfactory conclusion relative to eternal 
or imperishable things, and make him like the Spirit of 
God, also imm.ortal. Well, I admit, and indeed hold it as 
a profound and invaluable truth, that it is man^s knowledge 
which makes him immortal and enables him to live on 
through the resplendent realms of eternity, contented and 
happy, or, like his animal organism, pass away among 
the perishable and perishing things of the earth. On the 
one hand, if guided by the Spirit eternal and taught the 
things of God, he must live on and on, and develop with the 
continued instruction of that eternal Spirit: while on the 
other hand, if he yield himself obedient to the flesh and 
obtain a knowledge of material and perishable things only, 
he must of necessity perish with them for want of something 
to sustain that knowledge; and the words of the apostle are 



482 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

veritably true, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for 
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he 
that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; 
hut he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap 
live everlasting.*' (Galatians, ch. 6.) 

I further admit and verily believe that the mind or 
heart of man is an immense volume in which is written the 
great truths and designs of God the Creator, together with 
a full and complete code of laws for his government. But, 
like any ordinary book in which are written truths of vital 
importance, when spread out before an illiterate child, it 
will be treated as a toy, and wholly disregarded for its fu- 
ture benefits, unless accompanied by a teacher: nor even 
then will the child seek a knowledge of its valuable con- 
tents, except it be made to fear the evil consequences of 
idle neglect. So also with the human family; the Spirit of 
God was the teacher, whose admonitions were constantly 
disregarded, notwithstanding they suffered sore chastise- 
ments from time to time by the sword, famine, and pesti- 
lence, until they were finally shown the mighty arm and 
hand that wielded the rod of correction, and made to un- 
derstand that the Power was sufficient to slay as well as 
to make alive, and held the eternal destiny of man in His 
grasp; and in order to illustrate tliis to the perfect siatis- 
faction of man^s system of reasoning, it was necessary to 
clothe that power in the flesh and form of a human being, 
or, in other words, to place it in the body of a man. 

This was the purpose of Jesus; and the great work of 
the Messiah was to show man by example that the Spirit 
of God was the power of God on the earth and how it op- 
erated in the hearts of men to bring about good results, and 
the great necessity of obeying its instructions. He also was 



Two Thousand Years in iJternity. 488 

charged with the heavy burden of bringing about a conflict 
between the God of heaven and the powers of the earth, in 
order that the latter be vanquished and the rule of the 
former be established in the hearts of men. This required 
an overwhelming destruction and immense bloodshed, which 
was caused b}'- the downfall of Adam in his disobedience 
to the one simple command of God (a stupendous example 
of the results of man following the inclinations of his own 
carnal or physical nature), and this terrible national de- 
struction, which was absolutely necessar}^, did prove His 
(Jesus^) words to be the words of God: and hence He was 
proven to be the Son of God, by the blood of the nations 
which flowed as a river, and the dashing to ruins the beau- 
tiful cities which had been erected in compliance with car- 
nal lust and the worship of the gods of the earth. In sup- 
port of this, please look at the natural results according to 
our system of reason, and the disposition of man, when an 
entirely new theory be introduced in opposition to old and 
settled customs and opinions. Even in things of minor im- 
portance, divisions and dissensions are the consequence: 
. and how much more in things vital, or, still more, eternal 
interests: and hence it does not to-day require prophetic 
power to tell what the result would necessarily be in the 
introduction of Christ. I quote His own words upon this 
subject, written in Matthew, chapter 10: "Think not that 
I am come to send peace on earth : I came not to send peace, 
but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance 
against his father, and the daughter against her mother. 
. . . . And a man's foes shall be they of his own house- 
hold. . . /' And in Luke, chapter 12: "I am come to 
send fire on the earth; and what will I if it be already kin- 



484 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

died? Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? 
I tell you^ -^ay; but rather division." 

In those days doubtless the above e:^ressions were 
looked upon as mysterious, so that they could not under- 
stand them, because they knew but little of human nature, 
and could not reason from cpuse to effect: while at the pres- 
ent time it would be ^ery itatural to conclude that there 
would be great disturbance of equanimity among the peo- 
ple, both Jew and Gentile, by the introduction of the new 
system of worship to the one, and a new God to the other. 
And to-day the Christian and heathen will war with each 
other to the knife, and to death, rather than accept each 
the doctrine of the other. They cannot possibly stand to- 
gether on either platform, nor is there any intermediate 
position upon which the two can mingle^ — they are "the iron 
and the potters' clay.^^ 

Christ was the mighty Eock on which the heathen 
world was wrecked, and judgment by the sword was brought 
to the Genitles, and hence it was said, "He trod the wine- 
press alone.'^ He was also made the Corner-stone of the 
foundation of the kingdom of heaven; by which I clearly, 
understand that the sublime system of spiritual service, or 
the acknowledged reign of the Spirit of God in the hearts 
of men, which brought ^^dth it enlightenm\ent by establish- 
ing an intelligent ideia of the Creator and Euler of the uni- 
verse, was all based upon the marvelous works of this man 
Jesus, after He was anointed the Messiah. And the twelve 
apostles assisted by preaching the doctrine — ^the gospel of 
Christ to all the nations of the earth, to find the elect, 
taken from the twelve tribes of Israel, which were the liv- 
ing stones laid with Him in the twelve foundations of this 
immense superstructure, and was the foundation of the 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 485 

kingdom of heaven, which is nothing more nor less than 
the establishing of the principles and teaching which brought 
mankind from under pagan rule, and gave to man the power 
to know that the intellectual spirit within him was the 
Spirit of God, and the right to think and act for himself. 
Xow while the poor Christian once suffered dreadful 
persecution from the tyrannical heathen oppressor, at a 
time when the}^ w^ere numerically very weak, I rejoice that 
the day of their persecution has long since passed away and 
they can now worship ^^beneath their own vine and fig tree, 
where none dare molest or make afraid." And I now say 
by the Spirit of Truth, made strong by the verification of 
prophecy, and the progress the Christian has made in the 
world, that they will continue to devour the enemies of the 
God of heaven, until they are left the sole people on the face 
of the earth, and the great purpose of God will be accom- 
plished through Jesus, Who was the Christ. 

Will you now please turn to Isaiah, chapter 60, and 
read a description of the world in that state of perfection 
to w^hich it must attain finally? See the great peace and 
happiness of the Christian nation which was and is to fill 
the whole earth to the total destruction of all others, and 
freed from sin and all the unrighteous conduct to which the 
human family is subject at the present day; and in the 
last verse the Lord God said He would bring about that 
condition of the world and mankind in its due and proper 
time; and the w^ork is going on — perhaps to us very slowly, 
nevertheless it is progressing mth great certainty and in 
God^s own time the earth wdll be a beautiful garden filled 
with obedient followers of the Spirit of God, and surrounded 
by all that is beautiful to look at and necessary to supply 
man's wants. Please read this chapter, and you will find 



486 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

it to correspond with John's description of the Beautiful 
City, and is the one of which we spoke in a former chapter 
of this work, having truth and righteousness as a mighty 
wall about it; and indeed both writers in their way were re- 
ferring to and describing one and the same thing, which 
is that perfect condition the world must attain and to which 
it is steadily moving, and was to begin its career after the 
destruction and '"dark ages,'' and is to be a real condition 
of human beings on this earth: and while the work has been 
going on perhaps two thousand years, the ^'new earth" is 
but in its infancy. I will turn and give you the chapter 
referred to, describing that perfect state of man as Isaiah 
understood : 

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of 
the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall 
cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord 
shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon th^e. 
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the 
brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, 
and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to 
thee : thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall 
be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow to- 
gether, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because 
the abundance" of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the 
forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multi- 
tude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian 
and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring 
gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of 
the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together 
unto thee, the rams of Xebaioth shall minister unto thee: 
they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will 
glorify the bouse of my glory. Who are these that fly as 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 487 

a cloud and as the doves to tlieir windows? Surely the 
isles shall wait for iiie^ and the ships of Tarshish first to 
bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with 
them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy 
One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons 
of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall 
minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in 
my favor have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates 
shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor 
night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gen- 
tiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation 
and, hingdom that ivill not serve thee shall perish; yea, those na- 
tions shall de utterly ivasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come 
unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, 
to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the 
place of my feet" [His foot-stool.] "glorious. The sons also 
of them that afilicted thee Fhall come bending unto thee; 
and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down 
at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee. The City 
of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas 
thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went" 
through thee," [Here He speaks of the dark ages.] "I will 
make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 
Thou shall also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt 
suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the 
Lord am thy Savior and thy Eedeemer, the mighty One of 
Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring 
silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also 
make thy ofiicers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor 
destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls 
Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more 



488 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

thy light by day f [John said^ "The city had no need of the 
sun."] "neither for brightness shall the moon give light 
unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting 
light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go 
down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord 
shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourn- 
ing shall be ended. Thy people also shall le all righteous: 
they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my plant- 
ing, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A lit- 
tle one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong 
nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time." 

Now let us turn for a few moments and examine John's 
description of this same — the perfect condition of the earth 
as he saw it on the isle of Patmos, according as is stated in 
Eevelation, chapter 21, which stage of the world under the 
rule of the Spirit of God can be nothing more nor less than 
the new heaven and the new earth after the destruction 
spoken of by Jesus and the apostles, and is called the New 
Jerusalem. We will quote portions of this chapter, for it is 
not necessary to give the measurement of the city, suffice 
it to say that the "wall great and high" around it was a wall 
of righteousnesss which is as a wall of fire about an individ- 
ual or a city, and the way in which it was presented to John 
is very like it was presented to Isaiah. He says : "I saw a 
new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the 
first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down 
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for 
her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, say- 
ing, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will 
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God him- 
self shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 489 

wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there 
be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."" 
Here it is bnt jnst to say that as disease and consequent 
pain and sorrow came to the human family by sin and 
disobedience, it is reasonable and easily understood that in 
the course of human events, when man w^holly submits and 
becomes obedient to the Spirit of God within him in every 
respect, that disease and pain will finally not be known 
among us: and as it was declared in the Scriptures that all 
emblems, emblematic and formal worship was to be done 
away for real things, we can now see with an unprejudiced 
mind how that all things are new and former things are 
passed away. But we proceed: "And he that sat upon the 
throne said. Behold, I make all things new. And he said 
unto me. Write : for these words are true and faithful. And 
he said unto me. It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end. I wall give unto him that is athirst 
of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that over- 
cometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and 
he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and 
the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and 
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part 
in the lake Avhich burneth with fire and brimistone: which 
is the second death.'' Now here I must &ay beyond all mat- 
ter of doubt that all those who follow the inclinations of 
the flesh, and disregard conscience and the admonitions of 
the Spirit of Truth in their hearts, together with all heathen 
on the earth to-day, will exist no more in any form after 
the body of flesh decays, but will be wholly consumed and 
blotted out for ever, as worthless material, unfit to put in 
the building, is burned up to get it out of the way. This 



490 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

is truly the "lake of tire/' and is certainly death in every 
sense of the word: but to those who follow and obey the 
Spirit of Truth in their hearts there is no more death, but 
they will live on and yet on for ever. We will noAV pass 
over the measurement of this city and proceed. 

As it has been said in the Scriptures, and I have spoken 
of it in this work, that the body of man is the temple of 
God, land truly King Solomon's Temple and the Temple of 
Zerubbabel were emblematic of the body of man when he 
attained to that degree of intelligence at which he could 
comprehend and understand a spiritual influence within 
him; and you certainly remember enough of the Scriptures 
to know that they teach that the emblems were to pass away 
to give place to real existing things, according to the de- 
signs of God: so we see here John said, upon an examina- 
tion of this ^ew Jerusalem: "And I saw no temnle there- 
in: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lfamb are the tem- 
ple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of 
the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten 
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of 
them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the 
kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. 
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day : for there 
shall be no night there. And they shall bring glory and 
honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise 
enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever 
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are 
writen in the Lamb's book of life." And all this, when fin- 
ished, will be the complete work of Jesus, Who was the 
Holy One of Israel. 

N'ow I think from the foregoing it will be an easy mat- 
ter to understand my idea as to how Jesus as the Christ 



Two Thousand Years in Ekrnity. 491 

was offered as a sacrifice for sin^, and why the sacrifice sat- 
isfied God, appeased His wrath, and saved the human fam- 
ily. As is shown in all the Scriptures, the operations of 
God through the Israelite, and all of His elect, was to teach 
the human family that He was God. And it is very clear 
that He could not he satisfied until man looked upon Him 
as the only source of power and intelligence. God had in. 
the heginning ordered man so that he would grow and de- 
velop an intelligent being, capable of reasoning on all sub- 
jects presented before him; and knew that 'at a certain 
stage of that development it would be necessary to introduce 
some system of operation before his mind to prove to him 
that this creative power did not exist in anything earthly 
or material, and to direct his search from all things in the 
range of his control, for the creative and controlling cause, 
and to teach him the spiritual power of that Creator, that 
he might recognize the Spirit of Truth within him as the 
Spirit of God, and fear to disobey it. Otherwise man, from 
his very nature, would have served the creature by striving 
to satisfy the requirem.ents and lusts of the body, land the 
commands of God through the Spirit of Truth would never 
have been carried out, and the human family would have 
ever "presented a scene of conflict and confusion, or finally 
been consumed by the false and non-productive requirements 
of fleshly lust: which, clear enough to any thinking mind, 
would have been death in the true (and every sense of the 
word, and of course man would not have carried out the 
designs of God. Therefore, when man was taught to recog- 
nize the power and authority of the God of heaven, and 
made to fear Plim, so that he Avould never obey any other 
than the Spirit of intellectual Truth within him, and that 
this Spirit of Truth be the only authority he could obey 



492 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

without a eorresponding feeling of condemnation in his own 
heart, and consciousness of offense to God: then it was that 
Omnipotence was satisiied, knowing that Hi-s name and 
authority was permanently established on earth among men, 
as was declared through the prophets from time to time, 
in all of His operations/ that it should be, saying with em- 
phasis, ''They shall hnow tJiai I am. God.'' 

Now I ask if this has not been done? Do not the in- 
telligent nations of the earth recognize the spiritual power 
of the God of heaven and fear it, although some individuals 
claim that they do not believe in Jesus as the ''Faithful 
Witness" ? Again I ask. Was not Jesus the only intelligible 
being or agent on the earth who did teach man to fear the 
God of heaven, and show to him directly the power of the 
Spirit among His creatures? Moses and the law did not, 
for the Jews of to-day are the same in regard to the Spirit 
of God that they were three thousand years ago, and so 
they will be, if guided by the law, three thousand years 
hence: with the exception that they will sooner or later 
understand beyond a doubt, and by their own common rea- 
son, that the law cannot possibly make a man perfect, nor 
perfect any system of operation, and finally will realize that 
the original penalties are not executed, and their regard for 
it will gradually but most certainly wear away, and leave 
them an unguided people. Take the number of Christians 
in the world to-day — I do not mean those who are banded 
together under the name of "the Church," but those of the 
nations Avho believe in the God of heaven, and that Jesus 
was the Christ and mediator between the Creiator and His 
creatures — and contrast them with Jesus and the twelve, 
composing the foundation of the kingdom eighteen hun- 
dred years ago, and tell me if you do not think that the 



Two Thousand Years in Elernity. 493 

name of God and the power of His Spirit has been estab- 
lished among men to the satisfaction of the Father. 1 
think it has, and that in a few hundred years more the evi- 
dence will be so conclusive that all opposing forces will 
dwindle into insignificance before thei people of Grod. I 
therefore say without hesitation, that the human family 
has been brought to a saving knowledge of the Cre'ator upon 
the earth, which knowledge is to perpetuate man's spirit 
and enable him to live on with God beyond the existence 
of this earthly body of flesh. And this great work was ac- 
complished by none other than Jesus, Who was the Messiah 
and Faithful Witness to prove the power of the Spirit of 
God on earth, and thus it was He glorified the Father. 
Now Jesus himself had to be glorified; that is, it was 
absolutely necessary to prove to the perfect satisfaction of 
the elect that He was the Son and agent of God on earth: 
otherwise their faith in God through Him would have been 
groundless and lifeless; and hence He prayed to the Father 
lo glorify Him, that He might give life eternal to all those 
whom the Father had given Him. Turn to St. John, chap- 
ter 17, and read His prayer, and you will see that His glory 
was for the saints all, as well as the world, to know that 
God had sent Him, and it was the glory of the elect for 
the world to know they were sent of God through Jesus the 
Christ: otherwise their work would have been profitless, and 
there could not have been any glory in it. But Jesus said, 
"The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them.'' So 
we see that the entire system is inseparable, and each suc- 
ceeding agent must accord with and prove the preceding: 
therefore "God is all and in all," when the work is com- 
plete; and hence He said in his prayer, a part of which t 
give as follows: "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up" 



494 Two Thousand Years in Merniiy, 

his eyes to heaven, and said. Father, the hour is come; glo- 
rify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou 
hast given him po^Yer over all flesh, that he should give 
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this 
is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glo- 
rified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which 
thou gavest me to do. And now, Father, glorify thou 
me with thine own self with the glory which I had with 
thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name 
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world : thine 
they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept 
thy word. Now they have known that all things whatso- 
ever thou hast given me are of thee : for I have given unto 
them the words which thou gavest me; and they have re- 
ceived them, and have known surely that I came out from 
thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I 
pray for them : I pray not for the world, but for them which 
thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are 
thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in them.^' We 
find in Revelation, chapter 19, that the testimony of Jesus 
is the spirit of prophecy, and that John and some of his 
brethren had that spirit, which was to prove that Jesus 
came from God; and that being done, the world could not 
avoid believing in God, and the spirit proved that they also 
were under the same authority. 

John was doubtless one of the two principal witnesses 
— one of the olive trees, and I dannot conclude otherwise 
than that his brother James was the other, since they were 
the sons of Zebedee who asked Christ for the position of 
the two cherubims, as we see in St. Mark, chapter 10, while 
Jesus was talking to His people about His crucifixion, death. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 405 

and resurrection: "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, 
came unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou should- 
est do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto 
them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said 
unto him. Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right 
hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But 
Jesus said unto them. Ye know not what ye ask; can ye 
drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the 
baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him. 
We can. And Jesus said unto them. Ye shall indeed drink 
of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am 
baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on my right 
hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall 
be given to them for whom it is prepared." These two 
evidently were the two olive trees spoken of by Zechariah, 
which he saw in his vision. I refer to chapter 4, as fol- 
lows : "And the angel that talked with me came again, and 
waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and 
said unto me. What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, 
and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the 
top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes fo 
the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof :. and two 
olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and 
the other iipon the left side thereof." Zechariah then 
asked the meaning of it, which was explained; and no one 
who is a Bible-reader would say otherwise than the golden 
bowl on the top was emblematic of the Messiah, which was 
to come: but the explanation not being complete and sat- 
isfactory, Zechariah asked again: "Then answered I, and 
said unto him. What are these two olive trees upon the 
right side of the oandlestick and upon the left side thereof ? 
And T answered again, and said unto him. What be these 



496 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

two olive branches which through the two golden pipes 
empt_y the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered 
me and said, Knowest thou not what these be H And I said, 
No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed 
ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.'^ 

These were evidently the two great witnesses of Jesus 
the Christ, and were made flesh, as was the golden bowl; 
and we Avill turn to Kevelation, chapter 11, to see how they 
appeared to John in his vision, and the great work they had 
to perform during the last half week of time. After John 
was told to measure the temple, and not to measure the 
outer court, for it with the city of Jerusialem was given to 
the Gentiles or heathen to trample under foot forty and 
two months, then the angel said: "I will give power unto 
my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two 
hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These 
are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing 
before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt 
them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth 
their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in 
this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, 
that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have 
power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the 
earth with all plagues, as often as they will. And when they 
shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascend- 
eth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, 
and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead 
bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spir- 
itually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was 
crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues 
and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a 
half, and shall not sutTer their dead bodies to be put in 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 497 

graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice 
over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to 
another; because these two prophets tormented them that 
dwelt on the earth. And after three days and a half 
the Spirit of life from God enftered into them, and they 
stood" upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which 
saw them. And they heard a great voice from heven saying 
unto them. Come up hither. And they ascended up to 
heaven in a cloud; an dtheir enemies beheld them." 

Remember that all Revelation was of Jesus Christ 
shown to John by the angel, and that these two olive trees 
"were to prove more conclusively by their testimony in the 
last days of time, that Jesus was the Christ, and that He 
w^as sent of God, and they had power to afflict the people 
in a similar manner as Moses did the Egyptians, but with 
greater power. But we will now turn to the last chapter 
of St. John, and see what evidence we can find that James 
and John were these olive trees — the great witnesses of 
Jesus the Christ. We see here that Jesus spoke to Peter 
of the manner of his (Peter^s) death, and then told him to 
follow Him, and John also followed. "Then Peter, turning 
about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which 
also leaned on his breast at supper, and said. Lord, which is 
he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him said to Jesus, 
Lord, and what shall this man do ?" Now it is plain enough 
that Peter, with his usual curiosity, wanted to know some- 
thing about what disposition was to be made of John and 
the manner of his death; but Jesus, not disposed to give 
him much satisfaction about the matter, said to. him, "If 
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" and 
told him again tjo come along. "Then went this saying 
abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not 



498 Two Thousand Years in Bterniiy. 

die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If 
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This 
is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote 
these things : and we know that his testimony is true/^ That 
is, John testified that Jesus did say and do these things. 
ISTow while there is not much said about James, yet we must 
conclude that he was one of the olive branches, because he 
with John asked for the position, which was not refused, 
but, so far as Jesus had the power, w'-as granted. We now 
turn to Revelation, chapter 10, for further testimony that 
John was chosen as one to prophesy during the last days 
of that period called — time: "And I saw another mighty 
angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and 
a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were 
the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in hi« 
hand a little book open: and'he set his right foot upon the 
sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud 
voice, as when a lion roareth : and when he had cried, seven 
thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thun- 
ders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and 1 
heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up thost, 
things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them 
not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and 
upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by 
him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and 
the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things 
that therein are, and ihe sea, and the things which are 
therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the 
days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin 
to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath 
declared to his servants the prophets. And the v(3ice 
which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 499 

Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of 
the angel which standeth upon the sea, and upon the earth. 
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him. Give me 
the little book. And he said uiito me, Take it, and eat 
it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in 
thy mouth sAveet as honey. And I took the little book out 
of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth 
sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it my belly was 
bitter. And he said unto me. Thou must prophesy again 
before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.*' 
N'ow you see that Jesus did grant them the privilege of 
the necessary qualifications and the position on the earth as 
far as was in His power: and I have not the least doubt 
that it pleased the Father to allow them the position on 
the right hand and on the left hand of the Son in glory 
when the work was complete, and that He by the Spirit put 
it into their hearts to ask Jesus, their Master, for the posi- 
tion: and it certainly was but just that He should have 
the privilege of choosing His representative witnesses, who 
were to be given such great power and occupy so responsi- 
ble a position in the great day of God Almighty. We see 
at the fall of man in the garden of Eden the two cherubims 
and the flaming sword were placed to keep the way of the 
Tree of Life; and since Jesus was that Tree of Life, the 
two principal witnesses were given great power, and 
charged with the protection of His name as the Son of 
God; and force it upon the mind of man as such, by the 
sword of affliction sent out upon the human family, as 
often as they wished, or as often as they saw was necessary 
to convince man that Jesus was the Son of God; and make 
them know the unlimited power of the unseen God to rule 
the earth, and every condition of man upon it, that they 



500 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

might forever fear the God of Daniel, the great and ever- 
lasting God of heaven. These two olive trees were un- 
doubtedly slain in the streets of Jerusalem, as is said, where 
they lay three days and a half without burial, after which 
they were resurrected by the power of the Spirit of God, 
and taken up to heaven, and, I verily believe, sat upon the 
right hand and upon tlie left hand of the Son of God in His 
glory. 

IsTow will you please reread carefully the prayer of Je- 
sus as given on a previous page, and then turn your mind 
again to the great number in the world at the present time 
(which is but the begmning of the Christian era) who be- 
lieve in Jesus as the Son of God, and the elect who were 
given Him by the Father to assist in establishing the king- 
dom of heaven among men; and then ask yourself. Are they 
not glorified according to the requests of His prayer? and 
were not the Gentiles or heathen enlightened by Him? 1 
do not mean the heathen of to-day, for those who would not 
accept Him prior to the grejat day of destruction, when all 
things were fulfilled, must and will certainly perish; but I 
mean that most of the Christians or believers in God through 
the work of Christ were from the Gentile world, and that 
heathenism will finally be swept from the earth by His 
influence. 

From the ideas I Jiave heard expressed by Bible- 
readers, and Christians generally, it seems thiat the manner 
in which Christ was sacrificed, or that a sacrifice of any kind 
should be necessaiy to please God, is but vaguely under- 
stood. But it does occur to me, from the tenor of the 
Scriptures as well as common reason, that God knew man^s 
nature would prompt him to destrov any power or influence' 
set up in opposition thereto, requiring him to curtail licen- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 501 

tious indulgence, which had never been restrained hitherto, 
and that the chief priests and rulers of the Jews, who would 
be the first nation materially affected by the doctrine of the 
Father which Christ preached, would make a great effort 
to silence it, or any other doctrine that would tend to break 
down and destroy the power they had over the masses of 
the people : and hence we can see that it would be but a nat- 
uarl consequence at that da}^, and perhaps at the present 
age, for them to kill Jesus, or any other agent of God sent 
to establish the rule of His Spirit upon the e,Trth: but such 
being absolutely necessar}^, it was also nec^s^y that He 
who was sent among men with ocular demonstration of 
the Spirit of God should lose His life; and God knew this 
from the beginning of the world, which He foretold for the 
purpose of convincing man that He was omniscient; but the 
real necessity for a sacrifice existed in the animal nature of 
man, which God intended should be brought under the 
rule of His Spirit, or the intellectual being, and was not 
satisfied until that was so effectually done that man could 
never escape it throughout eternity. For evidence of the 
truth of what I say as to the cause of His death, turn and 
examine one instance recorded in St. John, chapter 11, 
where He performed the greiat miracle of raising Lazarus 
after he had been dead four days. Not only His disciples, 
but many of the unconverted Jew^s were present on the oc- 
casion and mtnessed the spectacle, and most of them were 
converted and believed in him; but some of them went and 
reported the fact to the rulers, who became uneasy, and 
feared all their people would follow Him, and that they 
thereby loose their nationality, and realized the fact that 
they would have to kill Him to prevent it. I will give you 
the wording of the Scriptures: "Then many of the Jews 



502 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

which came to Mai}^, and had seen the things which Jesus 
did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways 
to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a coun- 
cil, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many mir- 
acles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: 
and the Eomans shall come and take away both our place 
and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the 
high priest that same year, s^id unto them. Ye know noth- 
ing at al], nor consider that it is expedient for us, tha.t one 
man should die for the people, and that the whole nation 
perish not. And this sp'ake he not of himself: but being 
high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die 
for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also" 
he should gather together in one the children of God that 
were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took 
counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus therefore 
walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence 
unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called 
Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.^^ So you 
see clearly that He was dodging (so to speak) to keep out 
of the hands of the authorities and prevent arrest, but it" 
is clear enough that sooner or later He would be taken and 
tried for heresy, or some other offense, and it was a fore- 
gone conclusion that He must be killed whenever they caught 
Him. Therefore the Messiah was killed because they knew 
His miracles and wonder-working would cause the people 
all to follow after Him. and destroy their power as rulers 
and prevent the exercise of their licentious habits: which 
it most certainly did, as we see to-day. 

But it was absolutely necessary that an opposition to 
the reign of the animal be set up in the body of someone. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 503 

as an example of the intelligent rule of justice and right- 
eousness, that man might ultimxately be freed from the ig- 
norance, tyranny, and slavery consequent upon the selfish 
government of human beings. Therefore Jesus was the 
body prepared especially for the purpose; and you cannot 
fail to understand, according to your common reason, how 
and why He became a sacrifice for the sin of the world. 

The next thing to be considered is the manner in which 
Jesus was sacrificed. Isaiah (ch. 53) says: "He poured out 
his soul unto death." Now I hope you do not think that 
the simple act of giving up His life on the cross satisfied 
God; for that could never be. But let us refer to the defini- 
tion of the word "soul'' given in the early part of this work, 
which evidently means, the spirit and body united: never- 
theless it is sometimes used synonymously with the word 
"spirit,'' while in the main it is shown to be the spirit clothed 
either with a mortal or an immortal body. !N"ow I do not 
suppose that anyone who studies the Scriptures in search 
of the great truths which enable us to understand the works 
of God among men would hesitate a moment to say that 
the spirit of Jesus as a man never was allowed to rule His 
actions of any period of His life; notwithstanding, in the 
early part at least, it did strive to gain the ascendency and 
control, as do the spirits of other men. But it is very evi- 
dent that this mortal epirit, with its influence upon His 
actions, not being indulged in its unprofitable demands, did 
become weaker and more easily controlled, until finally it 
ceased its efforts against the Spirit of the Father which had 
taken possession of Him, and in this respect became wholly 
lifeless or inactive. Therefore the Spirit of the Father con- 
trolled all of His actions and words, while His own spirit 
was completely sacrificed to God during His earthly career. 



504 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and was the important part of the sacrifice; which taught 
man obedience to the Spirit and will of God, thereby estab- 
lishing the Avorld under its control, by which- all things are 
to be perfected, according to the original designs of the 
Creator. This did save man from eternal death and wholly 
satisfied God, the Creator and Enler of the universe; and 
it but remained to kill the body on the cross according to 
the evil inclinations of the flesh, and teach men that their 
greatest elforts to destroy were unavailing and could not' 
defeat God in His designs. 

Thus you see Ilis spirit was sacrificed to God, or for 
the Spirit of God, while He lived : and because of the works 
He did for the Father, His body was hanged on tlie cross, 
and this was the way in which He poured out His soul unto- 
death^^; and we can thus understand clearly the language 
of Paul to the Komans (ch. 12), who were elected to assist 
in the work of laying the foundation of the kingdom. He 
says: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies 
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. '^ 
This could only be done by the sacrifice of their own carnal 
spirits, which prompt the actions of the body: and by read- 
ing this entire chapter you will see that such was the idea 
entertained by Paul, and such was the course pursued by 
Christ during His life; and was an example to all who were 
to come after Him: and the human family must finally be' 
wholly obedient as was he. We can already understand the 
influence of this doctine by the ocular demonstrations in 
society at the present day: for in all instances where the 
animal is subdued and kept under the most perfect control, 
there we find the highest grade of refinement and intellect- 
ual development; and this progress of improvement, both 



Two Thousand Years 'in Eternity. 505 

moral and intellectual, must continue until the human fam- 
ily can more fully comprehend the work of God and see 
its beauty: at which time the great obstacles in the way of 
moral culture under .the guidance of the Spirit of God will 
be removed, and the intellectual man will, in all instances 
and under all circumstances, have full control of the ani- 
mal, as was intended in the original designs of God. 

By a little study of man's nature and the operation of 
the Spirit of Truth, we will see that under the influence of 
such a Spirit when the animal is subdued, his selfish dispo- 
sition will pass away, and he will entertain the greatest re- 
spect, and care for his neighbor's feelings and interest in 
the business circles as in the social. Man will cease to covet 
his neighbor's property, his servants, or his wife; there will 
be no great cause for one man taking that which belongs 
to another, for we will be as one family — one common broth- 
erhood, and little or nothing to incite one to kill. Each 
will love his neighbor as himself, for man's greatest and 
absorbing desire will be to please God and obtain a more 
and yet more perfect knowledge of His magnificent 'and 
illimitable Avorks. 

In conclusion, I will simply say that C?irist the Mes- 
siah was indeed the acme of prophecy and word of God to 
man: and an example of that state of perfection to which 
the human famil}^ must aspire, and finally attain, to the 
perfect satisfaction of the Father : and the work of the elect 
saints was to prove Him, as He proved God. And as we 
see in Revelation, chapter 5, that by His obedience to the 
will of the Father, and the proper performance of the great 
work marked out for Him, He did prevail to open the book 
that was in the right hand of him that sat on the throne: 
that the elect might be able to read and understand the great 



506 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and wonderful truths written therein; and they were made 
kings and priests unto God. And the wonderful book which 
bore the seven seaJs that were loosed by this Lion of the 
tribe of Judah is the heart of man, wherein the laws of 
God are written. And thanks, and praise, and glory, and 
power to that omnipotent and omniscient God, and the Holy 
One of IsraeL that we are the ollspring of those suffering 
saints and peacefully enjoy the inestimable privileges pro- 
cured for us by their painful toil and the bloody fiery or- 
deal through which they passed: and the book is constantly 
spread out before us, day and night, containing plain and 
simple instructions; written in a legible and intelligible 
manner: which will lead us with unfailing certainty to a 
delightful abode in the presence and protection of an om- 
nipotent and yet a kind and benevolent God. 

This was the Avork accomplished, and the great bless- 
ing obtained for us by Jesus, Who was the Messiah, the 
Holy One of Israel, prefigured by the sacred tree of life in 
the beautiful gar Jen of God. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 507 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 1 

God's Elect. 

I have made some previous remarks relative to God's 
elect in connection with other subjects, and perhiaps have 
given you what I conceive to be their use in carrjdng out 
the great objects of the Creator: but I think it expedient 
that I should speak more definitely upon the subject, and 
refer to some points along their line of operation, in order 
that you may trace the matter through, and arrive' at a con- 
clusion upon your own investigation. 

I have often heard along through life (and greatly to 
my dissatisfaction with the Scriptures) a doctrine or a be- 
lief set forth by teachers, and expressed by individuals, to 
the eifect, that God did elect and foreordain a part of His 
subjects to eternal life, and another portion, or the re- 
mainder to eternal death : and that this decree should re- 
main in full force as long as man existed upon the earth: 
or, in other words, a part of the human family was pre- 
destined to salvation, and a part to damnation. 

IS'ow I ask if your own common reason and sense of 
justice does not revolt at such an idea, notwithstanding it 
might have been taught and forced upon you in such a way 
that you know not how to escape it? It certainly does de- 
preciate the wisdom, justice, and mercy of God in your own 
heart; it would with me, if I tolerated such an idea, so des- 
titute of common sense, for a moment; but I know that 
God has been just, and the Scriptures do not in the least 
teach a doctrine so miserably foolish. But before saying 



508 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

anything further in regard to such a belief, I will remind 
you of a fact, however much it may be denied: that learn- 
ing or literary knowledge is not wisdom. The original book 
is before us, and we have the same right to study and con- 
strue its meaning, with like finite and fallible beings who 
extracted their ideas from it) a hundred or two hundred 
years ago. Why not? It is not the amount of literary 
knowledge that enables us to understand it, but the spirit 
with which we take it up and peruse its pages. The truth 
of the Bible is not to be proven by profane history, and 
books are but the opinions of men; and we can never tell 
in what spirit they were written, whether envy, jealousy, 
malice, or perhaps Truth. But since much might be said 
upon this subject, I leave it for the present at least, and 
return, to say: that according to my understanding of the 
Scriptures, taking them from the beginning to the end, 
and the great designs of ihe Creator so plainly shown upon 
their pages, together mth the power given to man and the 
way provided to bring him to an intelligent knowledge of the 
God who made him, it is a gross absurdity to suppose that 
Omnipotence and Omniscience ever made a class of human 
beings, all having the same nature and subject to the same 
spirits, which necessarily influence the natural man; all 
alike capable of experiencing sorrow land dreading pain on 
the one hand, and loving ease and capable of appreciating 
pleasure on the other; all brought into existence without 
their own knowledge or consent, a part of which were des- 
tined to bask in the smiles of a siatisfied God, while others 
were doomed to writhe forever in a sea of torment: and the 
Scriptures do not teach this doctrine, nor any other so con- 
trary to the common reason with which we have been in- 
vested: and the Creator never required man to believe any- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 509 

thing in his intelligent state that was contmry to that sys- 
tem of common plain reason. But this ideia or theory is 
contrary to every mode of reasoning known to man, and 
therefore preposterous, I care not how much learning its 
originators possessed. For proof of my statement above, I 
refer you to the Scriptures from first to last, where jou 
will find that God nor Christ ever taught man anything 
without supporting words by example, and those examples 
were in everj instance to satisfy the common reason, by 
which we must understand all of the Scriptures and the 
operations of God on the earth, or our belief cannot be 
based upon a permanent foundation land skepticism among 
intelligent reasoning men will ever be found, which was not 
intended — nay, must not be. Therefore I concluded that 
the wrong was in the manner in which the Scriptures had 
been construed and taught, rather than that they were false, 
or contradictory and unreasonable. I consequently con- 
strued them according to my own reason in search of the 
difficulty, and found them to indicate, as I have already said, 
that man was very deficient, either physically or spiritually 
— at least he was intellectually, and could not appreciate 
the works of the Creator : and God knew, if left to himself, 
he would sooner or later, like a child, be destroyed ere his 
growing intelligence become sufficient to protect him and 
retain the name and knov/ledge of that God who created* 
him: without which he would be useless for want of 
obedience. 

Man was intended for a position that an animal guided 
by instinct could not fill: therefore he was endowed with 
more of the power of God; and it is but just and right to 
hold him responsible to the extent of that power. But to 
deal justly with the creature and give him an opportunity 



510 Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

to appropriate that power to the purposes of God, it was 
necessary to provide a way by which the name of the true 
God be retained on earth among men during this long reign 
of the animal, from the beginning to the age of intelli- 
gence. And since all things were created in the six days, 
or the designs drawn on the trestle-board, this also had to 
be portrayed, at the same time, in order that the work be 
complete: and the agent selected through which this part 
of the work was done could not consistently have been any- 
thing inferior to man himself, and there was nothing supe- 
rior on the earth: therefore, a lineage was either selected 
or in some way especially prepared in the conception or 
spirit of begetting through which the Spirit of God oper- 
ated to carry His name beyond the long, vile period of 
ignorance, and establish it in the heart of an intelligent 
people. This to me seems very reasonable and necessary, 
and further, that these agents knowing God for His pur- 
poses and the necessities of that day, as we do to-day, and 
serving Him faithfully in those days of peril and privation, 
as we have the privilege of doing, it was but just that they 
should be saved, for they suffered immense persecution and 
torture in their work of establishing the kingdom of heaven 
among a people that were but little better than animals in , 
point of sympathy for suifering humanity: and we can now 
see that they did do their work very faithfully and satisfied 
the Creator; and in their salvation we certainly do under- 
stand the justice of God: and these composed the saints. 
Now in regard to the multitude of human beings who grew 
up and passed away during the process of development from 
Adam to Christ, I have this to say in defense of the Script- 
ures: that they certainly do teach that all human beings, 
brought) into eixstence by the allwise and just God of heaven, 



Two Thousand Years in JUternUy. 511 

did in due time have a fair and ample opportunity as well as 
the power to choose between life and death, and were admon- 
ished by precept or example, and doubtless both: or else 
passed away like the animal, to exist no more in any state, 
and of course not subject to any punishment. And if this 
latter be true, that any of the human family did thus pass 
away during the animal period, we should not fail to see 
that it is quite as just for God to use the animal mlan, and 
let him pass away in silent oblivion at an age when his in- 
tellect was not sufficient to appreciate anything beyond a 
temporal existence, as it is to creiate the lower animals for 
man^s use, which are to have no other existence beyond the 
life of the body. 

In support of the above position, that all human be- 
ings were treated fairly by the Creator and given ample op- 
portunity to exercise the power given them for their own 
eternal interests, I will refer you to Chapter XVI. of this 
work, and will simply nuake such statements as all Bible - 
readers know to be true, or are proven by Scriptures re- 
ferred to through this work as follows: 

From Moses to Christ very many of the human family 
had the advantage of the precepts and examples of the sons 
or agents of God; and during His life He in many places 
taught the people and performed miracles, selected the 
apostles and gave them power to do all that He did, "and 
greater things than these''; who continued the work until 
the gospel was preached to all on the earth at that time. 
After the death of Christ, He preached to the spirits in 
prison, which certainly were some, at least, if not all those 
who passed away prior to His coming; and thus far I think" 
you will certainly agree that the Scriptures teach plainly. 

I now call your attention to the unquestionable fact 



512 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

that Christ was the tree of life in the garden of Eden: and 
during His life taught men that He was the resurrection 
and the life; and that all those who helieved in Him would 
have eternal or everlasting life; and that those who did not 
helieve would perish or had no life in them; and I think 
you will agree that this is one of the most prominent feat- 
ures in all of His and the apostles' teaching. I therefore 
ask — what right have we to believe that those who did not 
hear the gospel of Christ (if any) were ever resurrected? 
for he said, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead 
shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and tJiey that hear 
shall live.'- Again He said, '^All that are in the graves shall 
hear his voice/' (John, ch. 5.) By the above He undoubt- 
edly means that all those who hearken to or heed His teach- 
ing or believe in Him: since the promise of eternal life is 
only to those who believe in the Son of God; as seen in St. 
John, chapter 3, as follows: "And as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up : that Avhosoever believth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God 
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but 
that the world through him might be saved. He that be- 
lieveth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not 
is condenmed already, because he hath not believed in the 
name of the only begotten Son of God.'' And this is also 
taught in many other parts of the Scriptures. Therefore 
all those who did not believe him to be the Son of God could 
not have lived for ever, and must have been blotted out of 
existence; and there is no possible room for a belief that 
those who never heard the doctrine of Christ ever lived 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 513 

again, if there were any such. I think the Scriptures teach 
as clearly as is necessary for our purposes that all who be- 
lieved not in God through Jesus the Christ, though they 
heard His voice or doctrine, should forever die. Not that" 
each individual should be forever dying (though that idea 
prevails among men), but that the means of death to all 
such must and will continue for ever, or as long as disbe- 
lieving men exist on the earth to pass av/ay; and that they 
will be forever dead: and hence we find such expressions 
as, "Their w^orm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," 
"Burned with unquenchable fire,'^ and others of a similar 
purport. Kow we know that worms and fire are both most 
powerful agents to consume and destroy; and hence they 
were appropriately used by most of the sacred writers as 
figures of the great consumption spoken of by Isaiah; and 
it is clearly indicated that these agents, whatever they may 
be in reality, to consume all things useless to God, must 
and will continue so long as there are any such refuse to be 
destroyed. But the pLinisiiment to be experienced after the 
spirit leaves the body must certainly be upon those of the 
Christian world who believe there is no other than the God 
of heaven, and that Christ was the Mediator for man^s bene- 
fit, and yet refuse to obey the Spirit of Truth in them and 
subdue the "^dll of the ilesh; for the heathen of to-day must 
perish. 

And now, since the name of the true and only God is 
established on earth among men, and all who axe raised up 
as children of the Christian people have the Spirit of Truth 
to guide them, there is no further use for the elect. We 
are children of the elect, and there can be no intelligent' 
reason why anyone should be foreordained or predestined, 
to eternal life and salvation, and another to damnation; nor 



514 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

do the Scriptures so teach, since they show that all the ob- 
jects of God, as presented in them, to be accomplished by 
His direct individual agents, have been completed; and the 
world is established under the command of the Spirit in 
each heart, and will be filled with people who shall bow be- 
fore and acknowledge Him to be the only true God, to the 
exclusion of all other nations or people. 

There is much more to be said on this part of the sub- 
ject; but I must return to the purpose of this chapter, and 
speak of some of the elect of God, and the work for which 
they were chosen. It is proper, however, to say here, that 
while the elect were predestined or foreordained to do certain 
work for God, and therefore granted everlasting salvation, the 
balance of the human family were allowed to choose for 
themselves between life and death, and not predestined to 
everlasting punishment: and many believed on the Lord Je- 
sus through the testimony of the elect; and hence the lan- 
guage in the prayer of Jesus given in St. John, chapter 17, 
as follows : "N"either pray I for these alone," [Meaning the 
elect whom the Father had given Him, as you will see by 
reading the entire prayer.] "but for them also which shall 
believe on me through their word.'^ 

It is also proper for me to say here that the elect gen- 
erally referred to in the language of the New Testament 
are those who lived in the days of Jesus Christ; and with 
His apostles were appointed to suffer the afflictions and 
persecution necessary in establishing the kingdom of heaven 
and the name of the Messiah on the earth: nevertheless 
there were others from the beginning to Christ foreor- 
dained for certain purposes, some of whom are the follow- 
ing: Eighteous Abel was the first of God^s elect, who was 
succeeded by Seth, from whom sprang the line of beings 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 5l6 

through which God preserved His name on the earthy and 
certainl}' were those called the "sons (tf God'^ during the 
first age of man on the earth, as is seen in Genesis, clMp- 
ter 6, when God saw this lineage was being corrupted and 
it became necessary to destroy man. The prophet speaks 
thus: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply 
on the face of the earth, and daughters w^ere born unto 
them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of lAen that 
they were fair; and they took them waves of all which they 
chose. And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not always strive 
wdth man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an 
hundred and twenty years." Noah was selected from this 
people, through whom the Father operated to transplant the 
human family into the second world : and we need not speak 
of any prior to him, nor is there much known: but we cian 
see clearly the great and wise object of him, and the mighty 
water which swept corrupt man from the face of the earth, 
and proved that JsToah was truly selected or elected and 
guided by the Father. The next most prominent individ- 
ual was Abrahani, and we see it indicated that he was select- 
ed because God iinew he would control his children, or en- 
tire household, and force upon their understanding the 
great necessity of keeping the way of the Lord, or doing 
such things as God required at that age, that they should' 
have a right to expect the promises; and we can also see 
the wisdom in selecting .a man who would exercise his au- 
thority and control his family well; that they might regard 
his teaching, and be so thoroughly impressed with what he 
confided to their keeping that they would retain in their 
minds, and transmit from generation to generation these 
great promises of God; which were treasures and blessings 
to be realized by their offspring somewhere in the future. 



516 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and to be passed from one generation to another down to 
Moses^ who first wrote them, together with the law for the 
government of the people. In Genesis, chapter 18, we find 
the quotation from which I deduce the above: "And the 
Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I 
do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and 
mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be 
blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command 
his children and his household after him, and they shall 
keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that 
the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath 
spoken of him.'^ 

I refer you to page 456 of this work, relative to the be- 
getting of Isaac, who was given to Abraham, and was cer- 
tainly a son of the living God, for he was not begotten in 
licentious lust, and required as much the direct operation 
of God in his begetting as did Jesus. You doubtless re- 
member what was said on a former page of this book; that 
Sarah was barren all of her life, and it was considered an 
impossibility for her and Abraham to reproduce their spe- 
cies; notwithstanding God intended the child to be recog- 
nized as the son of Abraham, and hence it required that he 
should be used as the medium of operation in the begetting 
to satisfy his mind ,and confirm the faith in the minds of 
those who Avere to come after. 

From this time on we see that there was a necessity 
for a greater number of individuals to operate through the 
world, upon whom was stamped the name of God, and hence 
He begins in Isaac to raise up a nation who were to be a 
peculiar people, and Israel was to be his inheritance, l^ot 
that the entire nation who sprang from Isaac were indis- 
criminately saved and adopted into the family of God, re- 



k 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 517 

gardless of the requirements of obedience: bin they were 
a nation raised np to be a national example to the rest of 
the world; and it was from this people the elect of God was 
taken for the purpose of establishing His name and power 
on the earth; which is the kingdom of heaven. 

I think it well at this point to pause, and call your at- 
tention to the parables spoken by Christ relative to the king- 
dom of heaven, which you will find in Matthew, chapters 
20 and 22. He illustrates the establishing of the kingdom 
and the manner of obtaining men for the purpose by the 
parables of the householder who hired men at different 
hours of the day to work in his vineyard and paid them all . 
the same price; and the king who made a marriage for his 
son and invited guests. to come and participate in the feast 
and pleasures, but they would not: then he sent into the 
highways and brought in guests by whom his purposes were 
accomplished and the wedding was furnished. I will give 
you this last parable, in chapter 22 : '^'And Jesus answered 
and spake unto them again by parables, and said. The king- 
dom of heaven is like nnto a certain king, which made a 
marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them 
that were bidden to the wedding : and they would not come. 
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying. Tell them which 
are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen 
and my fatling? are killed, and all things are ready: come 
nnto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went 
their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 
and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them 
spitefnlly, and slew them. But when the king heard there- 
of, he was wroth : and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed 
those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he 
to his servants^ The wedding is ready, but they which were 



518 Two Thousand Years in Eternity 

bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, 
and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those 
servants went ont into the highways^, and gathered together 
all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wed- 
ding was furnished with gTiests. And when the king came 
in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on 
a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how 
earnest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And 
he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, 
Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him 
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth." And at the close of each of these two parables 
he said, ^'For many are called, but few are chosen.^' And 
in St. Mark, ch. 13, vs. 19-20, in speaking of the great sor- 
rows, torture, and death in the great day of conflict between 
the pov/ers of heaven and the powers of the earth, he says : 
"For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from 
the beginning of the creation which God created unto this 
time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had short- 
ened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elecfs 
salce, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.^^ 
These wedding guests were all the chosen and elect of God 
for the purpose of establishing this kingdom, and poor Jud'as 
was the one who had not on the wedding garment. And 
for this, turn to St. John, chapter 17, and* you find Jesus 
praying for all those which the Father had given him, 
twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, 
as follows : "I pray for them : I pray not for the world, but 
for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And 
all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified 
in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are 
in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through 



Two Thousand Year's in Eternity. 519 

thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they 
may he one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, 
I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have 
kept, and none of them is lost, Mt the son of perdition; thfat 
the scripture might he fulfilled/^ 

Xow you ^\-ill scarcely fail to agree with me that all 
the seed of Isaac, ^\ ho numbered millions, were called of 
God for the purpose of estahlishing His name on the earth, 
and the rule of his Spirit in the hearts of men: all were 
taught their duty, and His requirements made plain and 
easy; but they treated His invitations with contempt and 
killed His servants the prophets, so that in the days of 
Elias, during the reign of King Ahab, he had only reserved 
seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal; and 
to the time of the end there were but a hundred and forty- 
four thousand chosen (^nes; which were indeed few. But 
you remember that Israel and Judah were for their dis- 
obedience destroyed, and scattered over the whole world 
among all naiiions; and the king's servants, the apostles, 
were sent out to call them to the wedding feast, and they 
did go and brought them in from the high^Vays, and they 
were few, nevertheless quite sufficient to establish- this king- 
dom: which they did; and the highways were the nations 
of the whole earth. 

Israel proper were these elect whom God reserved, and 
were drawn to Christ l)y the preaching of the gospel by the 
apostles and those whom they ordained; and were what was 
called "The lost sheep of the tribes of Israel,'' whose sore 
and sorrowful duty was to bear the burden of persecution, 
ridicule, torture, and death consequent upon opposition to 
the rule of heathen gods or gods of the whole earth and the 
setting up of the kingdom of heaven: and these were sup- 



520 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

ported by the hand of God that they should hot fail, and the 
kingdom be thus made sure. Nevertheless many others ac- 
cepted the faith under the preaching of the 'gospel by the 
apostles on earth and Christ in the prison of the spirits. 

The election of the saints is clearly shown in the words 
of God to Elijah after he slew the prophets of Baal at the 
brook Kishon; he had to escape for his life into the wilder- 
ness, and thought from the persecution of God's prophets 
that Israel was hopeler-sly lost and his etforts wholly useless; 
and he said to the Lord, "They have killed thy prophets, 
and digged down thine si tars, and I am left aione and they 
seek my life/' But God had provided against all such na- 
tional rebellion, and said to Elijah, "I have left me seven 
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto 
Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him/' (1 
Kings, ch. 19.) 

ISTow we all know that the work of the apostles and dis- 
ciples was to prove Christ and establish the kingdom; and 
Paul explains the operation of God in preserving His name 
on earth by quoting the above words of the Lord to Elijah, 
which you can find in Eomans, chapter 11, and then goes on 
to say, "Even so then at this present time also there is a 
remnant according to the election of grace," Isaiah also 
said (ch. 10), when speaking of the day of God's visitation 
and the great destruction, "For though thy people Israel be 
as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return." 
As Paul quotes the above in Eomans, chapter 9: "Yet a 
remnant of them shall be saved." Paul also says: "Israel 
hath not obtained that v.^hich he seeketh for; but the elec- 
tion hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." l^ow the 
fact of this matter is, that all Israel as a nation was so cor- 
rupted by the heathen nations around them that they could 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 521 

not understand the vision of God, and hence they were blind 
of course; and God, seeing this, did choose from among 
them certain ones whom He intended by the power of His 
Spirit to force into the work of establishing His name; and 
although they were scattered among all nations, were the 
first to believe the preaching of the gospel of Christ by the 
apostles. 

As I have said before, God^s inheritance, or Israel proper, 
were those He selected, or elected, as the husbandman would 
select the good seed to plant, and He knew them. "Israel 
was holiness unto the Lord, and the first fruits of his in- 
crease: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come 
upon them, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah, ch. 2.) Please 
trace through all the New Testament scriptures these "/irs^ 
fruits/' and you will find them to be those who were chosen 
and foreordained to the work of establishing or setting up 
the kingdom spoken of by Daniel (ch. 2, v. 44), which was 
to "break down all other kingdoms and stand for ever. 

Turn now to Ephesians, chapter 1, and read what P,aul 
said to them; but before reading the quotation, remember 
what I have said in regard to the fullness of time, or end of 
time : that periods as they passed were measured and counted 
to determine the truth of prophecy and prove the omnis- 
cience of God; but when all prophecy was fulfilled, as it 
has been, then time ceased and eternity began; and this 
was at the end of the second period of the world, or second 
world. And Paul now speaks to the elect or foreordained 
who were to assist in the great work of establishing the 
name of God in this third world, in which we now live. And 
this letter is especially addressed to those found among the 
Ephesians. He says: "Blessed be the God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritueil 



522 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath 
chosen ns in him before the foundation of the world, that 
^ye shonld be holy and without blame before* him in love : 
having predestinated ns unto the adoption of children by 
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of 
"his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he 
hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have 
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins ac- 
cording to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded 
toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known 
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleas- 
ure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispen- 
sation of the fullness of times he might gather together in 
one all things to Christ, both Avhich are in heaven, and 
which are on earth; even in him.'^ Please let your mind 
revert to what T have said heretofore relative to the work 
of Christ in heaven or the place of the spirits, preparatory 
for the great day of God Almighty: and I now say that al- 
though they vrere elected to the work of God, and doubtless 
filled the purpose for which they were intended on the 
earth prior to Christ, yet it was as necessary to their sal- 
vation that they be enlightened by an intelligent knowledge 
of God, through His Word or Son; as those still dwelling 
in bodies of flesh; that the former might fill the same rela- 
tive position among the spirits in prison as did the latter 
Avhen converted to God among the heathen nations of the 
earth: and hence Christ preached to them, as did the apos- 
tles to those scattered among all nations on the earth; and 
that they were resurrected in that great da}^, and gathered 
to God in Christ, we have no re^nson whatever to doubt. But 
Pie said further, relati^^e to themselves in that day: "In 
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predes- 



Tivo Thousand Years in Eternity. 523 

tinated accordiEg to the purpose of him who worketh all 
things after the couucil of his own will: that we should be 
to the praise of his gloiy, AA^ho -first trusted in Christ." ^'ow 
will you please mark the preceding expression, "We should 
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.' 
Do you not see by this, ihat they were the predestinated, 
and that the object of them was to prove Christ, and thus 
glorify Him : Can you not also see thati it has no reference 
AvhatcA^er to us of the present day, but to those who first 
trusted in Christ? And \yq will see subsequently that there 
was an eepecial reward for them, Avhich certainly Avas most 
just and deserving — far above any that were to come after 
them; we of to-day have no part in it, but certainly are reap- 
ing peacefully the great benefits of their heaA^y toil and sore 
afflictions. And I thank God to-day that His justice and 
great kindness did provide especial care and confer distin- 
guished honors upon those poor suffering saints, who per- 
formed their work so nobly, alloAving their life-blood draAA^n 
in the most cruel manner rather than surrender the sacred 
charge their Master had left them. For further evidence 
that the Christians of to-day are not included among the 
elect saints, but are the offspring of them, and those who 
believe through their Avord mentioned in the prayer of Christ 
(St. John, ch. 17), Ave \:i\\ read further what Paul said to 
the Ephesians (ch. 1), as follows : "In whom ye also trusted, 
after that jq heard the Avord of truth, the gospel of your 
salvation: in AA'hom also after that ye believed, ye were 
sealed Avith that holy Spirit of promise." But it AA^as neces- 
sary that the elect be sealed to make sure the kingdom ere 
the terrible destruction come upon the earth, as is seen in 
Kevelation, cliapter 7, Avhich we will present to you further 
on, and shoAv to you that Jesus the Christ was the mighty 



524 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

angel who ascended from tlie east having the seal of the liv- 
ing God, and that that seal was absolutely the Spirit of God. 
Many places in the Scriptures show that there were men 
prepared, who were to accept the faith and make a begin- 
ning of the great Avork of the Spirit which was to rule God^s 
kingdom: and St. James (ch. 1) speaks of them in the 
following manner: "Of his own will begat he us with 
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits 
of his creatures." Now you cannot fail to see that these 
were prepared of God to believe in Christ at the hearing of 
the Word; but it was necessary for them to hear the word 
of truth first for its effect on others, that many might be 
encouraged to believe and support the Messiah: besides, all 
such work was to come up in the natural channel of man's 
reason, that they might use their common sense to support 
their belief; otherwise the work could not be permanent in 
the hearts of men. All things must be in accordance with 
man's intelligent reason; otherwise they will sooner or later 
be discarded as false and worthless. 

Subjects were also especially prepared of God for the 
miracles of Christ, as, for example, the blind man, who wa.s 
blind from his birth, preparatory for future testimony be- 
fore the human family that Jesus was indeed the Christ 
and possessed the Spirit and certain powers of the God of 
heaven ; related in St. Jolm, chapter 9 : "As Jesus passed 
by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his 
disciples asked him, saying. Master, who did sin, this man, 
or his parents, that he was born blind?" Now anyone can 
see the ignorance and stupidity of this question; neverthe- 
less it was passed over, and Jesus answered, "Neither hath 
this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God 
should be made manifest in him/' And for this purpose wag 



Two Thousand Years in Eternihj. 525 

he born blind; and I think Christ makes this matter very 
plain. Lazarus was also selected as a subject to prove the 
power of God to raise the dead; but he operated through 
Jesus in order to connect man^s common reason and intel- 
ligence with his Creator; to show His power among His 
creatures, and cause man to investigate the operation of His 
Spirit upon human beings; and that was the beginning of 
man^s knowledge of the Spirit and its operations. The book 
is large, and there is ver}^ much yet to be learned, since we 
at the present time are but poring over its primary pages. 

When Jesus heard thali Lazarus was sick, He said, "This 
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that 
the Son of God might be glorified thereby." (St. John, ch. 
11.) Do you not here see plainly the object of God's oper- 
ations through Jesus? They certainly were to prove Him 
to be the Christ and connecting link between God and man, 
and that for this purpose Lazarus was prepared? 

But to return again to the subject of the saints, and 
how they were distributed of God in every part of the earth 
for their influence and testimony among the nations, though 
they knew it not until after the great works of God were 
understood by them through the Spirit of Truth: and since 
it was according to the designs of God to open up to man's 
intelligence an unbroken chain of reason, our common sense 
teaches us that it was necessary for them to first hear the 
Word of God ere they believe and be efficient servants; and 
hence He provided a Avay by which the gospel was also 
preached to all the world. 

Christ speaks to the apostles in keeping with the whole 
system of operation, as follows: "Ye have not chosen me, 
but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go 



526 Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

and bring forth fruit, and tha.t your fruit should remain." 
(St. John, ch. 15.) 

The Lord directed Paul to preach freely and fearlessly 
at Corinth, and said, "I have much people in this city.'' 
(Acts, ch. 18.) These were evidently the elect, whom God 
had predestined for His use in setting up the kingdom; and 
Paul remained there, preaching and teaching, a year and 
six months. 

God had so provided for the work of establishing His 
name that man could not, with his greatest and most re- 
morseless efforts, defeat His purposes; and Paul, in his ad- 
monitions and words of encouragement in his second letter 
to Timothy (ch. 'Z), also shows this to be so; for he said: 
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having 
this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his.'' 

The tenor of the Scriptures indicates that the class of 
people chosen of God to show forth the power of the Spirit 
were, as a general thing, illiterate and of but little influ- 
ence in themselves among men: which certainly was a very 
rational course, as was also pursued in raising up the Mes- 
siah from a very poor and humble position and despised city : 
and Paul called the attention of the Corinthians to this 
prominent feature in the works of God in the following man- 
ner : "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many 
wdse men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble 
are called." (1 Corinthians, ch. 1.) And we see that such a 
class of men armed with the Spirit of God would have a 
great influence in establishing a faith permanently in the 
hearts of men; notwithstanding their tribulations and con- 
flict would of necessity be much greater : beside many other 
good reasons for pursuing this course, which we have not 
time to mention here. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 527 

Paul visited Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, and 
doubtless many other places, for the purpose of exhorting 
and encouraging the disciples to be firm, and admonishing 
them of the sorrow and great trials they were to encounter 
during the coming reign of terror by the powers that wxre 
opposed to and would try to stamp out the Christian faith 
and influence, and the final great destruction by Antichrist, 
in his efforts to prevent the kingdom of God; and he tells 
them to "continue in the faith, and^ that we [they] must 
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.'^ 
(Acts, ch. 1-1.) 

We see in the body of the Scriptures that a great many 
individuals were chosen of God, for certain purposes, and 
you need no reference to any particular one. Moses was 
chosen and prepared as a law-giver, Bezaleel and Aholiab 
were called by name, and they were filled with the Spirit of 
God and given wisdom and ability to do the fine work on 
the Tabernacle. Exodus, chapter 31 : "And the Lord spake 
unto Moses, saying. See, I have called by name Bezaleel the 
son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I 
have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in un- 
derstanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work- 
manship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in 
silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, 
and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of work- 
manship. And I, behold, I have given wdth him Aholiab, 
the son of Aliisamach, of the tribe of Dan : and in the hearts 
of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may 
make all that I have commanded thee." Saul was chosen 
the first king over Israel; Solomon to build the Temple; 
Isaiah the prophet to whom was first revealed the mode of 
introducing Christ and the second great destruction or con- 



528 Two Thousand Years in JEternity. 

siim23tion, and the beauties and blessings of the third world; 
and the Lord said to Jeremiah (eh. 1): "Before I formed 
thee in the belly, 1 knew thee; and before thou earnest forth 
out of the womb^ I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a 
prophet unto the nations/' In this last ease, we find pre- 
destination and foreordination in a nutshell, and the pur- 
pose of it — to prove to tht nations of the earth the omniscience 
of the God of heaven. Now you remember what I said in the 
early part of this chapter — in substance, that God did prepare 
a lineage through which His name was to be preserved and 
established on the earth : and as you see not only by the 
declaration of Jeremiah, but your common sense (unpreju- 
diced) would teach you, that an allwise God, to carry out 
His gi-eat designs, would from time to time, according to 
the emergency of the occasion, produce men with a suffi- 
cient amount of intellectual ability, and support them in 
their duties, that His purposes fail not. And so were the 
hundred and forty-four thousand elect saints whose duty 
was to sustain the principles set forth in the doctrine of 
Christ and establish the world and the rule of the Spirit of 
God. King Cyrus was chosen and called by name for the 
purpose of liberating tiie Jews and building Jerusalem and 
the Temple, near two hundred years before he issued the 
proclamation to begin the work. Now on this point let us 
refer to the hiistory, and to satisfy the minds of men we will 
appeal to chronology by the calculation of Archbishop Usher, 
though 1 have no confidence in the correctnesss of his cal- 
culation — indeed, I know it is not correct; but it is sufficiently 
so to prove the point in question, so we proceed. In or 
about the year 710 B. C. the prophet Isaiah speaks of King 
Cyrus (long before he was born), who became king of Persia, 
and was virtually also king of the whole world, and said: 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 529 

"Thus saith the liOrd to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right 
hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I 
will loose the loins of kings to open before him the two- 
leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go be- 
fore thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break 
in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of 
iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and 
hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that 
I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of* 
Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, 
I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, 
though thou hast not known me. / am the Lord, and there is 
none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though 
thou hast not known me: that they may know from the ris- 
ing of the sun, and from the west, that there is none heside 
me. I am the Lord, and there is none else." Xow let us pass 
on down, down the avenues of time one hundred and four- 
teen yeiars, to the year 596 B. C, and see what Jeremiah 
said about this matter, whose prophecies were respected as 
the things that must come to pass. There is much said in 
regard to this matter of restoring Jerusalem, but we will 
only quote suflFicient to prove to you that Jeremiah under- 
stood it about six hundred years before Christ, as follows: 
"Within two full years will I bring again into this place all 
the vessels of the Lord^s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king 
of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to 
Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the 
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of 
Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will 
break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'' 

We now pass on down the declivity of time to the year 
536 B. C, at which point Cyrus, king of Persia, appears in 



530 Two Thousand Tears in Eternity. 

person and reality, and issues the proclamation to rebuild 
Jerusalem and the Temple, which we find in the book of 
Ezra, chapter 1, as follows: "Now in the first year of Cyrus 
king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of 
Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of 
C3TUS king of Persia, that he made a proclamation through- 
out all his kingdom, and put it also in ^yriting, saying, Thus 
saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath 
given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged 
me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with 
him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
and build the house of the Lord God of Israel^ (he is the 
God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in 
any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place 
help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and 
with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of 
God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the 
fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the 
Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up 
to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And 
all they that were about them strengthened their hands 
with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, 
and with precious things, beside all that wlas willingly of- 
fered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the 
house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought 
forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of 
his gods; even those did Cyrus, king of Persia, bring forth 
by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered 
them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. .... All 
these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity 
that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.^' Zer- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 531 

ubbabel was chosen to superintend the building of the Tem- 
ple, who laid the foundation, and God declared through the 
prophet that he should also finish it, though it was forty- 
six years in building. For this we refer to Zechariah, chap- 
ter 4: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, say- 
ing, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of 
this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt 
know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you." The 
foregoing is very plain testimony that the God of heaven did 
raise up men for the purpose of performing His work, and 
sustained them in their duties. Among the elect who were 
scattered over the world under the rule of heathen nations 
at the fall of Samaria and Jerusalem we find Ezekiel, whose 
afflictions were very great; the beloved Daniel, who was sub- 
jected to the mercy of wild beasts; and the three noted He- 
brew children, who were given to the intensified flames. 
These examples seem quite sufficient, and I shall on this 
part of the subject only refer you to Isaiah, chapter 46. where 
you may see that God did raise men up "from the belly," 
and guarded and provided for them in every emergency, 
that they should not fall nor be deceived; and the object of 
them was to prove Him and establish His name among his 
creatures, as he had often declared, saying, "They shall hnoiv 
that I am God'' 

But let us turn again to the poor suffering saints, who 
stood up in support and defense of Jesus as the Mes- 
siah beneath the reign of that most overwhelming tyranny 
and torturing oppression ever known to the world, when 
every day presented a scene of most horrifying and merci- 
less death, while the air was filled with solemn prayers and 
piteous cries to God, commingled with the wild and demo- 
niacal shrieks of the merciless heathen to whom they were 



532 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

given for execution. Search the Scriptures for their fate, 
and use your common reason, and you will be able to under- 
stand to some degree what an arrogant heathen would do 
who set himself up to be God, even placing himself in the 
Temple and endeavoring to show to the world that he was 
God. Would he not bring to bear the most excruciating 
torture upon those poor helpless human beings who through 
pure love to God and fidelity to the Master refused to bend 
the knee of submission and worship him? Yes, most as- 
suredly he would, for such^ is human nature, and his was 
human nature unbridled. And do you not think those suf- 
fering saints and servants of God deserved to wear a crown 
of most resplendent gold, and be able to sing a song of praise 
that none of us poor, feeble, presumptuous creatures could 
ever learn ? Ah ! yes, their voices should reverberate through- 
out the length and breadth of heaven with which ha,rmo- 
nious and blissful music that none other in the universe of 
God could produce: and I thank and praise that everlasting 
God that His pity and justice did provide and make ready 
such an especial reward for them, and that long since their 
heartrending sorrows and savage, torturing pain are done, 
all done, and their clean and spotless spirits are clothed with 
their spiritual bodies, even white and shinning robes of right- 
eousness, and that they are to-day intelligible and happy be- 
ings, singing that new song in the eternal realms of light, 
truth, and God. 

Let us turn now to the vision and revelation of John, and 
trace these servants, who were especially prepared of God 
for His purposes on the earth, and were necessarily subjected 
to great persecution and painful death in the performance 
of their duty. AYe find they were sealed with the Spirit 61' 
God prior to and preparatory for the great conflict between 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 533 

the two powers, in which they were to perform an important 
part, and resulted in the overthrow of the wicked nations of 
the earth. And in this process of sealing the servants of 
God we see the predestination and foreordination clearly 
shown, and the great object of the apostle^s preachings to 
which we will soon refer. 

I wish to pause a moment here for the purpose of say- 
ing that the operations of God in preparing for and during 
the Judgment was manifested to John by three different 
signs, and we find through the entire Scriptures that all 
things presented to man were by the mouth of two or three 
witnesses: and in this case the work was shown to John in 
a different manner under these different signs, the work also 
differing to some extent, but mainly the same, and all to 
prove the Word of God. The first was the opening of the 
seven seals of the book, the second was the sounding of the 
seven trumpets, and the third was the pouring out of the 
seven vials of the wrath of God, which were the seven last 
plagues. But you must not neglect to search carefully, and 
find that the seals were opened and the book spread out 
before us by the execution of the work under the sounding 
of the trumpets and the pouring out of the seven vials of 
wrath, or, in short, the seals were loosed, step by step, as 
the work progressed: and by each one of these signs the 
entire work was made plainer, until by the last John under- 
stood that it was in reality the terrific judgment of God upon 
the earth, to be executed in some overwhelming and dread- 
ful manner, made plain enough for him to know that it was 
a rehearsal of the great and terrible time spoken of by the 
holy prophets in ages past. 

We will now turn to chapter 6, where the fifth seal was 
opened, John said; "I saw under the altar the soi;ls of 



53 1: Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 

them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testi- 
mony which the}^ held : and they cried with a loud voice, sa.y- 
ing, How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And 
white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was 
said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little 
season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, 
that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." 

We see at this date, when only the fifth seal was opened, 
that some and doubtless many of the elect, as well as others 
who had believed through their word, were already slain: 
and it was but a little wliile until the great destruction grew 
furious upon the wicked, and the rest that were to be killed 
according to the designs of God was fulfilled. 

I^ow read what was shown John when the sixth seal was 
opened, the dreadful events that were to arise during this 
period. This was the time when the heavens were shaken, 
cleansed, and prepared as the habitation of the spirits of 
those who obey the commands of the Spirit of God while 
on the earth in the body of flesh; and thus the old heaven 
passed away as it appeared to John, and the new heaven 
took its place, and then was the time of the judgment in 
heaven. The "dark ages" began during the time of the sound- 
ing of the sixth angel, and the struggle was terrible, but the 
final end was during the sounding of the seventh angel^, or 
the pouring out of the seventh vial of the wrath of God, as 
we will see further on. I will give you the language of John, 
which shows you plainl}- he is describing the same scene men- 
tioned by Isaiah and other prophets, which I have given 
you on previous pages of this book: "And I beheld when 
he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earth- 
quake; and the suji becapie bleick as sackcloth of hair, an^ 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 535 

the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto 
the earth, even as a Hg tree casteth her untimely figs, when 
she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed 
as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and 
island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the 
earth, and the great men, and -the rich men, and the chief 
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondsman, and ev- 
ery free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of 
the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on 
us, and hide us from the face of him that sittethon the throne, 
and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his 
Avrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?' In chapter 7 
you vrill see, as did he, that the final stroke executed under the 
sounding of the seventh angel was stayed until the servants 
of God were sealed, which you certainly cannot fail to under- 
stand to mican the awaiting of the preaching of the gospel 
to all nations, that the elect have an opportunity to believe 
in Christ and receive the Holy Ghost, which He promised, 
and hence the servants of God, or elect, and those who be- 
lieved through their word and example, were sealed with the 
Spirit of promise, as was circumcision the seal of the right- 
eousness of faith. Yre now turn to chapter 7, and quote as 
follows: "And after these things I saw four angels stand- 
ing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds 
of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the elarth, 
nor on the sea, nor on any tree. x\nd I saw another angel 
ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: 
and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom 
it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt nol 
the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed 
the servants of our God in their foreheads.^' Now the four 
angels standing on the four corners of the earth are the 



536 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

same four aiigels which were bound in the great river Eu- 
phrates, and were loosed under the sounding of the sixth 
trumpet, as we see in chapter 9; and the other angel which 
John saw ''^ascending from the east having the seal of the 
living God'^ you certainly can understand by your simplest 
mode of reasoning was Christ, Who first introduced to man 
the Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Truth, which was 
then and is now 'Hlie seal of the living God J" Now I hope 
you will yield yourself obedient to the Spirit of God, turn 
a deaf ear to the precepts of men, and learn, as is your priv- 
ilege, by studying this part of the subject closely, who the 
Israelite proper was in those days and prior to Christ, and 
who the Jew proper is to-day: bearing in mind that it is not 
him who is solely circumcised in the foreskin of the flesh, 
and that the Holy Ghost is the mark of God's people now, 
Avherever they may be found, and that tjie day is long since 
past when baptism and the laying on of human hands was 
necessary to obtain it. In your reflections, read verse 9 of 
chapter 3, which says: "Behold, I will make them of the 
synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, 
but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship 
before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." But 
we proceed. 

John said: "And I heard the number of them which 
were sealed; and there were sealed a hundred and forty and 
four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." 
-Twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, 
and these were especially prepared and given to Christ, that 
He be proven by them, and thus glorified — these were the 
elect. But it is a fact which no sane man would be so stupid 
as to attempt to deny, that while the apostles were preach- 
ing to all nations on the earth and baptizing in order to 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 537 

find the elent^ which God intended to sustain in the days of 
tribulation, that His kingdom be established on earth, that 
there were many others among all nations and people who 
were induced to believe that Jesus was the legal representa- 
tive of the true God because of the wonderful works done by 
the elect after that they were baptized and received the 
Spirit of God in their hearts, and they also submitted to the 
ordinance of baptism and were sealed with this same Spirit 
of God, which seal we bear to-day; and there were thousands 
of them, and hence John says, in this chapter 7: "After- 
this I beheld, and, lo, a gre'at multitude, which no man 
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and 
cried with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God which 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the 
angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders 
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, 
and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glor}^ 
and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and 
might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And 
one of the ciders answered, saying unto me, What are these 
which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 
And I said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. And he said to 
me. These are they which came out of great tribulation, and 
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood 
of the Lairib."^ 

Kow in order that you thoroughly understand the great 
works of God, it is necessary for you to determine the ob- 
ject of each particular part; therefore you should ask your- 
self, or the Spirit of Truth within you, why it was done; and 
let that Spirit of intelligence direct the answer, and you will 



538 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

find it to fully harmonize with all the Scriptures: and for 
this purpose I ask that you let your mind revert to the 
preaching of John the Baptist in the wilderness and its ob- 
ject;, as mentioned in St. John, chapter 1 : "This is he of 
whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred be- 
fore me: for he Avas before me. And I knew him not: but 
that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I 
come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, 
I saw the S]nrit descending from heaven like a dove, and it 
abode upon him. And I knew him not: bnt he that sent me 
to baptize with water, the same said unto me. Upon whom 
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on nim, 
the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.'' 

Christ was one of the elect, you must admit, and fore- 
ordained; but in order to reconcile the world or continue 
nnbroken the thread of human reason. He was to be intro- 
duced to man, or hunted out from among the people of 
Israel, and manifested to them in an intelligible manner : and 
hence John preached the doctrine of repentance, that all or 
a sufficient number might come and be baptized of him, for 
the Christ was to be shown to Israel by the Spirit of God 
descending and resting upon Him who was thus intended, 
after that Tie was baptized. This demonstration was also 
to be the first evidence to Jesus as a man that He was the 
chosen one, to prompt Him to begin the work, for His hu- 
man nature demanded this evidence, as does that of other 
men; and it was followed by continued proof of his accept- 
ance. And when the Messiah was found to the perfect sat- 
isfaction of Jesns and others to whom He was to be mani- 
fested, the baptism of John soon ceased, for its mission was 
ended; and John speaks plainly in the quotation given, and 
gays in simple language that no one can mistake^ that his 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 539 

baptism was for no other purpose than to find the Christ. 
The next thing that was inaugurated was the preach- 
ing of the gospel of Christ, which the tenor of the Script- 
ures shows conclusively w^s for the purpose of seeking out 
from among all nations on the hahitable globe the hundred 
and forty and four thousand elect of God (who were the 
"lost sheep of IsraeF') and anointing them with the Holy 
Ghost, together with as many others as believed through their 
word, and thus prepare them for the painful work they had 
to perform in the great day of God Almighty : and when this 
was done, the mission of the gospel of Christ, like the bap- 
tism of John, was also ended, and its work full and com- 
plete; for by it the servants of God were sealed and made 
ready for the operation of the four angels that held the four 
^v'inds of the earth, or, in other words, the beginning of the 
terrible destruction of the human family : and hence the gos- 
pel was to be preached to all nations and people under heaven 
before the end came; but the end was to follow immediately 
thereafter. Others were also sealed beside the elect, after 
they heard the gospel and believed, as you will see by read- 
ing Ephesians, chapter 1. Here the writer first speaks of 
the elect, and said: "That we should be to the praise of 
his glor}^, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also 
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel 
of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye 
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." Of these lat- 
ter, however, they were not all saved, for there was a great 
falling away in the days of persecution by the Antichrist; 
but the elect who were given to Christ were all saved, with- 
out*the loss of one, except "the son of perdition," and they 
were to prove and glorify Christ as He glorified the Father; 
&nd in return^ and at the same time, God glorified them, 



540 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

On this part of the subject it will help your understanding 
to read again the prayer of Christ in St. John, cK'apter 17. 

And now I would have you bear in mind that the elect 
were scattered among every people and nation on the earth, 
as I have said before, and by their influence and the preach- 
ing of the Word of Truth according to the purposes of God 
many more were to believe, or did trust in Christ; and it 
was shown John that all those who were sealed with the 
Spirit, and kept the faith to the end, should be gathered to- 
gether in Christ from among the nations of the earth, and 
the spirits in .prison, or in heaven, as is indicated in verse 9 
of this chapter 7, as follows: "After this I beheld, and, lo, 
a great multitude, which no man could number, of all na- 
tions, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the 
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands." These are they who followed the ex- 
ample of the elect servants of God, and kept the faith to 
the end. And now the world is established, all men raised 
up among the Christian people have the Holy Ghost to guide 
them, which is the mark of God: and the privilege and power 
to follow it to a destiny of eternal happiness, and the work 
of establishing the world is done ; as Christ ^aid to the Father 
in His prayer, ^T have fmished the work which thou gavest 
me to do." 

Now allow me to state clearly my earnest and honest 
belief on this part of the subject, that you may see that I 
look upon the teaching of the Scriptures in the light that 
they were entirely comprehensible to all those for whom 
they were intended, and that we are presumptuously constru- 
ing altogether too much of the sacred work as referring -to 
us, which, not being at all applicable, is rendered ambiguous 
and in many respects contradictory : a'ld bence they are not; 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 541 

understood to the perfect satisfaction of the masses who 
re'ad them. I also say that so far as teaching our duty to 
God, thev have but little to do with us, and that the Chris- 
tian world should be, in this twentieth century, far above and 
beyond their crude and primary lessons. I mean by this, 
that truth, justice, and righteousness should be so instilled 
by the unyielding iron will of tjhe paternal government, made 
pleasant and desirable by that love and kindness which will 
ever flow in diffusible undulations from the heart of par- 
ents filled with the Spirit of God, and guided by "it, until 
the children of to-day ^\ould so understand the operation of 
that Spirit that they would no more presume to violate the 
laws of God written in their hearts than we would dare to 
violate the laws of the land. But we have been kept back 
to the first principles of the doctrine of Christ by sectional 
interests, opinions, and contentions in regard to lifeless form 
and ceremony; and the Spirit has not had free course, but 
kept cramped in its operations under the impression made by 
men, that its rule must be premised by certain tangible or 
material acts: which teaching does create a pernicious idea 
in the mind of the rising generation, that they are not chil- 
dren of God, and not acceptable to the Father, until they 
have first submitted themselves to those worthless and life- 
less ordinances, the utility of which to Christian people of 
to-day cannot be explained; and to teach the youth that they 
do not belong to the family of God and have no right to ex- 
pect the benefit of His mercies and blessings is certainly 
most disastrous and discouraging, and in its tendency closes 
their eyes to that daily and hourly responsibility to God 
intended for them to bear from their earliest childhood. We 
must learn to look upon the works of God on earth in es- 
tablishing His name among His creatures in a more definite 



542 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

light; fur certaiuly it was to a great extent a definite work 
by the Father through the Son, to establish the indefinite 
and illimitable rule of the Spirit; at which time the definite 
and formal works were folded up and laid away, and left man 
standing upon the immovable foundation of that great spir- 
itual edifice, which in its erection would be tarnished by any 
formal or manual service that human beings could render; 
and there is no part whatever of this government left to the 
administration of men, and no one living to-day possessed of 
authority from God to execute any part of the service for 
His subjects. The tenor of the Scriptures siiows this plain- 
ly, and it strictly accords with the revelations to Daniel by 
the vision (ch. 2, v. 44), which says: "And in the days of 
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which 
shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left 
to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume al? 
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever/^ 

In giving you the geometrical dimensions of this won- 
derful piece of work cemented together in a furnace of in- 
tense white heat, and garnished with truth, I must say that 
as 5^ou believe there were but twelve patriarchs, the number 
definite and names given, so mth the twelve apostles, who 
were also named and their work defined: I verily believe, 
and so understand clearly, that there were but a hundred 
and forty-four thousand of the elect saints, composed of 
twelve thousand taken from each of the twelve tribes of 
Israel. And as the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb 
are in the twelve foundations of the Beautiful City, so are 
the hundred and forty-four thousand elect and foreordained 
the living stones which built them and made the founda- 
tion of God sure and imperishable, Christ being the chief 
corner-stone, and these with their works form the entire sys- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 543 

teni of GocVs operation in establishing His name on 'the 
earth among men, who are to be guided henceforth b}^ His 
Spirit of Truth solely. And this is the stupendous subject 
and sublime plan of salvation, treated of and portrayed in 
the entire Scriptures from Genesis to Eevelation, to assist 
the understanding of man, and show to us who come after, 
by the present operation of Truth within us, which came 
from God, aud the existing condition of mankind, that all 
things written have been fulfilled by the mighty hand of 
God, Who drew the designs of this colossal edifice in the 
beginning, and proved by all of His mighty works His de- 
termination to establish the world under control of intelli- 
gent human beings, guided by His Spirit, ready for a con- 
tinuous existence, and to all intents and purposes to be a 
^^ world ivithout end." 

Xow let us turn to chapter 14: of Eevelation, and take 
one more view of these precious jewels with which the foun- 
dations of the kingdom were so beautifully adorned, and 
we will'see in the beauty and symmetry of God's stupendous 
works that as they in the original designs lay wdth Christ 
in the foundation of this great plan of salvation, and in the 
carrying out of these plans suffered with Him privations 
and persecutions and were subjected to painful and igno- 
minious deaths, that in the untarnished realms of blissful 
spiritual life they were also assigned the post of honor close 
by the Master, "the Captain of their salvation,'^ to go with 
Him wherever He goes, and "be with Him where He is," 
according as He asked the Father in His prayer, which I 
have given you on former pages. There they can ever be- 
hold His beaming glory and radiant smile of satisfaction be- 
cause of the noble manner in which they performed their 
part of the work and glorified Him on the earth. John says: 



544 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

"I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with 
him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Fath- 
er's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice 
from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harp- 
ing with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song 
before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the el- 
ders: and no man could learn thai song hut the hundred and 
forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 
These are they which were hot defiled with women; for they 
are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whither- 
soever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, 
being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in 
their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault 
before the throne of God.'' 

Turn to Eomans, chapter 8, where you will find much 
evidence to support what I have said as to the object of the 
elect, and that the whole system of God's direct operation 
was to establish the world under the rule of His Spirit, 
and from this chapter I will give quotations as we pass along. 
The Scriptures were not directed to us, but for the encour- 
agement aud support of those. on w^hose shoulders the bur- 
den of proving Christ and establishing the Spirit was placed : 
which being done, we need nothing more, and the world 
will be filled with the glory made certain through their suf- 
fering: and hence Paul said, "I reckon that the sufferings 
of this present time are not Avorthy to be compared with the 
glory which shall be revealed in us." But at the time this 
was Airritten the whole plan of salvation was not fully con- 
summated, and would not be until they who were engaged 
in tlie work Avere redeemed from the hands of the slayer of 
God's j)eople or placed beyond their reach: until which time 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 545 

heathen darkness and human suffering prevailed on the 
earth; but their constant expectation was that at the final 
completion of the plan of salvation made known to them by' 
prophecy, in which they were performing their part, that- 
light and peace would dawn upon the earth, and with it their' 
sufferings would also cease and they would be introduced- 
into the kingdom of heaven; and hence Paul said: ^^We' 
know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in 
pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves 
also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we our- 
selves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to- 
wit, the redemption of our body/^ This word ^n3ody'^ may be 
taken individually or collectively, and means the body of 
elect organized for the struggle, and this redemption of that 
body was to take place at the final destruction, when the 
Antichrist and all heathen nations were vanquished, their 
pain and sorrow cease, and they as a Christian people were 
allowed to grow up a nation, and bring the whole earth un- 
der the rule and reign of the Spirit of the true and living 
God. We see also in Eevelation (ch. 11) where this scene 
was presented to John by the vision under the sounding of 
the seventh angel, and it certainly accords most beautifully 
wifh the talk Paul gave i o the Eomans. Now let me remind 
you that the termination and completion of all things writ- 
ten in prophecy occurred under the opening of the seventh 
seal, the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the pouring 
out of the seventh vial of wrath. We see here that the sixth 
angel had sounded his trumpet and the destro3dng angels 
had been loosed from the great river Euphrates, and much 
of the work of destruction had been done, and there re- 
mained only one final and terrific stroke of short duration 
to be executed when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; 



546 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

and John said: "The second wo is past; and, behold, the 
third wo cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sonnded; 
and there were great voices in heaven, saying. The king- 
doms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, 
and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And 
the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their 
seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying, \Ye 
give thee thanks, Lord God Almighty, which art, and 
w^ast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy 
great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were an- 
gry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that 
they should be Judged, and that thou shouldest give reward 
unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them 
that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy 
them v/hich destroy the earth.'' 

Now it is very evident from the tenor of the entire 
Scriptures that the elect were prepared to assist Christ in 
the work of setting up the Kingdom, which we can not 
doubt has long since been done. And as they were predes- 
tined, called, and sent to perform a work for God that woul3. 
cost them much sorrow, great pain, and even their lives for 
the benefit of the human family that were to live in all the 
future ages of the world, it certainly was most reasonably 
jnst that God should predestine them to an everlasting life 
of glory and happiness, as a reward for their services when 
the work was finished. Therefore, for the benefit of those 
who are to live on earth in future years, I ask that you search 
the Scriptures carefully, and determine to your perfect sat- 
isfaction who the elect were, and the purpose for which they 
were raised np, that you may be prepared to discour'age the 
unjnst idea that there are any at the present age who are 
foreordained to an eternal life of happiness, regardless of 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity 547 

their own efforts, while others are doomed to eternal sorrow 
and death, regardless of their ability and acts of merit. 

I call your attention to one more place in the Script- 
ures which proves that God in His wisdom did prepare men 
in every nation to be called or drawn to Christ for His sup- 
port, that through their example and influence others would 
be convinced of the power of the Spirit of the unseen God, 
and thus establish that spiritual system which would ulti- 
mately revolutionize the world and bring all intelligent hu- 
man beings under the command of the God who created 
them; and that they, like Christ, were to be also glorified for 
their inestimable services. And since man understood noth- 
ing beyond tangible things, it was unquestionably neces- 
sary that this system have its origin in the days of God's 
direct operations on earth ; and in order to be supported con- 
tinuously by thQ intellectual reason of man in his course of 
continued improvement, it had to be based upon ocular dem- 
onstration, which required a direct work of God through 
prepared human beings, in whom would originate a system 
of reasoning that would ultimately satisfy the philosophic 
mind of man in the process of development, that the great 
Power of all powers to be consulted and satisfied by the phys- 
ical man. as well as his mental faculties, to produce peace 
and harmony is the Spirit of God; and that the True Power 
which operates on all things, not only on the earth, but in 
the entire universe, is spiritual, and that its ultimate results 
are real and truthful, and for the benefit of intelligent be- 
ings existing in His universal dominions. 

We now go back to Eomans, chapter 8, where we find 
the following words of Paul relative to those chosen of God, 
who first entered the kingdom through the operation of the 
Spirit and were the first fruits of the Spirit, being the first 



548 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

born to God after Christ. He says: "And we know that 
all things work together for good to them that love God, to 
them who are the called according to his purpose. - For whom 
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed 
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among 
many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them 
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: 
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall 
we then say to these things ? If God be for us, who can be 
against us ?'' You also see by this that God did provide for 
a completion of the work which He planned in the begin- 
ning, and it was for this purpose He reserved men from the 
fetters of idolatry, and it Avas these elect of whom Paul was 
writing. 

But the system is established and the work was thor- 
oughly done: all men in the Christian world have now the 
advantage of that Spirit of Truth to guide them, and by the 
works of Christ and His teaching we are brought directly 
to the Father, before AYliom we can lay our hearts for in- 
spection, and to Whom we can apply for the pardon of our 
unrighteousness and assistance, that we be able to walk up- 
rightly before Him, and perform our work daily according 
to His will. 

The works of Christ and the elect being finished, He 
is no longer to make intercession for us by prayer; but when 
we go to God, we must bear upon our hearts and entire un- 
derstanding the impress that by His toil and pain in teach- 
ing and establishing with man an intelligent understanding 
of our Creator we are now permitted to enjoy these ines- 
timable privileges of living daily and hourly in the imme- 
diate presence of the Father and calling upon Him as sons. 

Jesus endeavored to make His disciples undeirstand' 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 549 

that before they could comprehend His relation to God and 
the result of Ilis works, they could not call on the Father 
through Him in an intelligent manner; but that when the 
whole plan was made plain to them, they could in His name 
ask the Father in perfect confidence: therefore the Chris- 
tian people of this age, or since the Spirit was given to maoi, 
needs not the intercession of Christ, for we -must remember 
that He was a mediator for a people who knew not God, and 
they alone needed an intermediate system by which their 
intelligent reason was connected with the Creator, or em- 
bodiment of omnipotence and all wisdom, that they might 
be able to call upon Him for assistance; which js the only 
power that can protect us and minister to our necessities 
in the entire universe. But the work of Christ and the elect 
saints is done — yes, done; and, thanks be to God, it is well 
done; and man to-day the world over needs not the inter- 
cession of Christ, for the Christian people know the true 
God; and the heathen must perish, because "there is no 
more sacrifice for sin." 

I now refer you to St. John, chapter 16, where Jesus 
speaks to them of His death and resurrection, when they 
would better understand Him and the work, and know the 
Father. He said : "In that day ye shall ask me nothing. 
A^erily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the 
Father in my name, he will give it you." Please remember 
that in those days when Christ spake these words the peo- 
ple, even His disciples, did not know the Father properly, 
and — think a moment — they did not pray to the Father, 
but went to Christ, Who prayed for them; but they were at 
that particular time on the eve of a thorough understand- 
ing of the object of Christ and His operations; and that you 
may thus understand, we continue the quotation: "Hith- 



550 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

erto have ye asked nothing in ni}'- name: ask, and ye shall 
receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I 
spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I 
shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew 
you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my 
name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father 
for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have 
loved me, and have believed that I came out from God." 

It is this knowledge in our hearts, of the great salva- 
tion of man brought about by the teachings of Christ, which 
enables us to ask the Father in the name of the Son, and it 
i^ that established in us by the Spiritj of God or the Spirit 
of Truth in our hearts which in reality makes intercession 
for us ; by which Jesus also approached the Father : and now 
we also are sons of God if we deny our own carnal spirits, 
and submit ourselves to the control of the Spirit of God 
which is placed in the heart of every enlightened soul 
throughout the world. 

To call your attention more directly to the fact that the 
work of the elect is finished, I ask the following : Is not the 
name of Jesus the Christ fully established on earth, its in- 
fluence extending, and He thus glorified? It certainly can 
never be blotted out from among men as the name of the 
great mediator of God. Was not the human family brought 
to a saving knowledge of the true and living God through 
Jesus and the saints? I^o other ever taught the power of 
the Spirit of the Father. Have not all men in the Christian 
world the inestimable privilege of the Spirit of God or Spirit 
of Truth in their hearts, minds, or somewhere in their un- 
derstanding, as their guide and support? "As for me, this 
is my covenant Avith them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that 
is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth. 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 551 

shall not depart out of tliy mouth, nor out of the mouth of 
thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the 
Lord, from henceforth and for ever." (Isaiah, eh. 59, v. 21.) 
The Spirit of Truth is placed in the hearts of all men in the 
enlightened world, as are also written the laws or "words" 
of God; but it is a most deplorable fact that there are yet 
so many disobedient children reared among His chosen peo- 
ple. We are the seed of the elect, or those who believed 
through their word. Are there any at the present day killed 
for their belief in the Lord Jesus ? Are any imprisoned and 
cruelly tortured to make them recant ? The time was when 
the Christian people lived in constant sorrow and pain ; they 
daily endured taunting insults and brutal punishment from 
the heartless heathen; and nightly, when their beastly per- 
secutors were folded in the arms of sleep, and all else hushed 
and silent, their wailing voices were heard ascending from the 
prison cells or pitpj of torture ; and those poor suffering ser- 
vants of God saw no peace, no rest day nor night, till the 
welcome messenger of deiath stilled their aching, bleeding 
hearts. Even Paul thus persecuted these precious and 
brightest jewels of God, which he declared with his own 
mouth; who afterward became a Christian, and suffered 
with them. But thanks and praise and glory and honor to 
the God of heaven, that the day of persecution for the spir- 
itual worship of the unseen God, and for the name of Jesus 
the Christ, has come to a close; and all are permitted to en- 
joy peaceful and sweet communion T\dth the Father, beneath 
our own vine and fig-tree, with righteousness and truth as 
a mighty wall of fire about :all who trust that Spirit of Truth 
and righteousness in their own hearts as their guide. 

And now, since the Christian people have braved the 
storm of contempt and cruel weight of oppression; and sur- 



552 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

vived that cowardly and brutal effort Avliich is always pushed 
to its utmost by the strong and established, to crush out 
every new system that is introduced, for fear- that it might 
conflict with or overturn their principles, no matter how 
praiseworthy its object may be nor how beneficial to the hu- 
man family it may subsequently prove, and that Christian- 
ity has thus risen up through those consuming fires brought 
to a smelting heat by the combined powers of the world, 
to stamp it out, and is now established above and beyond 
the reach of any and all human forces to drag it down, and 
the world is to be filled with the glory of God through this 
system established by Jesus the Christ — I ask again. Do you 
think it reasonable, and in accordance with good common 
sense, to suppose that the world should yet so far retro- 
grade into heathen darkness as to subject the Christian peo- 
ple to that dreadful persecution a second time, which was 
represented in the Scriptures, as a prelude to the second 
great destruction of the world? 

To this I must say, that if the days of persecution of 
the saints are yet to come, and they are yet to pass through 
the fiery ordeal contemplated by the prophets, then are we 
of the Christian world laboring under a delusion — Jesus was 
not the Christ, and the Messiah is yet to come, for the king- 
dom of heaven was to be set up through the instruraentality 
of the Holy One of Israel : and this persecution of the saints 
was consequent upon its opposition to tangible and visible 
gods and material worship. But it seems foolish to enter- 
tain a momentary doubt that the work of Cod^s elect is 
finished; and if Christians retrograde, it will be because we 
are not following His Spirit; and if suffering and sorrow 
await us in the future, it will be a chastisement for submit- 
ting to the precepts of men: and I doubt not that the Chris- 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 553 

tian people will sooner or later, and perhaps more than once, 
he severely chastised for disohedience ; hut if they suhmit 
themselves wholly to the rule of the Spirit of Truth in each 
heart, and are not governed nor influenced hy selfish desires, 
nor sectarian principles laid down by men, there is no power 
nor combination of powers in all the creation sufficient to 
drag them down from that elevated platform of an intel- 
ligent knowledge of the Creator on which we now stand, 
as was intended from the beginning by the God of the uni- 
verse. The creation which has so long travailed in pain has 
been delivered, and in due time the sons of God will fill the 
whole earth, having peace and plenty under the uninter- 
rupted reign of the allwise and glorious Spirit of Truth, 
which is the Spirit of God, or in reality God himself in us. 
In conclusion, I make an earnest request of all who 
read this book, whether they be members of the (so-called) 
churches or otherwise; but especially is this request ad- 
dressed to those to whom this work is dedicated: that you 
pause and calmly examine your own hearts (or seat of rea- 
son), divest yourself of all influence of former teachings of 
men, no matter whether they be called divine, priest, or prel- 
ate, nor what literary attainments they may be possessed 
of; neither do I care how ignorant you may be of letters: 
remember, and forget not, that they are just as incompe- 
tent to construe the laws of God written for your govern- 
ment as 3'Ou are to teach anyone else in the whole world. 
Remember that those laws are not written in the Bible; not 
on paper nor parchment, but in your own heart; and fur- 
ther, that there is but one on this earth beside God him- 
self that can read them — but one, and that one is yourself. 
Do not flatter yourself that you can rest your eternal inter- 
ests on the say-so of any living being at the present age, no 



554 Two Thousand Years in Eternity . 

matter liow great his attainments may be in the eyes of the 
world. Eemember, and forget not, that each of us was made 
by and intended to stand np in the likeness, and image of 
that great and omniscient Creator, even the omnipotent God. 
EecoUect that the work of preparing ns for that most ex- 
alted position was placed upon Christ and the apostles and 
the elect formed and constituted the nucleus of the Chris- 
tian nation to which we belong; and while some of both 
heathens and Jews were converted, and introduced into the 
Christian family, we know not from which you or I sprang, 
but it matters not, since we are descendants of those who 
believed in the Christ, and accepted the Spirit of the liv- 
ing God in their hearts in that da}^ of salvation; and we are 
now blended together in this great Christian nation, which 
is to fill the whole earth, to the exclusion and obliteration of 
all others; and each of us is prepared from childhood with 
the law written in our hearts to perform a different work 
from all others. And just here, if you will pardon me for 
repetition, I will again give you that last covenant, by the 
words of the prophets Isaiah (ch. 59, v. 21) and Jeremiah 
(ch. 31), as follows: "As for me, this is my covenant with 
them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my 
words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out 
of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of 
the mouth of thy seed^s seed, saith the Lord, from hence- 
forth and forever .^^ Jeremiah said: "Behold, the days 
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with 
the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not ac- 
cording to the covenant that I made with their fathers in 
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of 
the land of Egypt ; (which my covenant they brake, although 
I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord :) but this shall 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity, 555 

be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; 
After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their 
inward parts, and ^vrite it in their hearts; and will be their 
God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no 
more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, 
saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from 
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord : 
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their 
sin no more." 

Xow turn and look back over the entire ground from 
the beginning of man on up to the time he was sufficiently 
developed intellectually to comprehend and understand the 
Spirit of God within him (and when I say Spirit of God, I 
mean God himself; for there is but one God, and that is 
an invisible Spirit, which never will — ^never can be seen), 
and then examine carefully the plan by which He operated 
through Jesus and the apostles, to make man know that he 
was cre'ated as the temple in which God would dwell, and 
that his intellectual being, guided by Truth, was that God' 
which gave him all the power he possessed above brutality 
and physical force. Then remember that it was the Jews 
and heathens who were converted; and that knowledge was 
forced upon them by the preaching of the gospel and the 
miracles which were performed before them (and the mir- 
acles were the real argument in the case)^ and that they 
thus became Christians: that is, they believed that Jesus 
was the Christ and followed Him; since He was the first to 
teach the power of the living God in the hearts and under- 
standing of men. Kecollect that these Christians and their 
seed after them from generation to generation forever were 
to retain that knowledge of the true God and never, never 
again need conversion nor baptism: while the remaining 



556 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

Jews and heatliens who refused to accept that knowledge 
of the Spirit of God, or were not then convinced in that 
day of salvation (the day of miracles and the laying on of 
hands), can never be converted — they were as "the five fool- 
ish virgins." Then it is absurd to talk about converting 
any one of the Christian nation, for he already knows the 
true God, and is not a heathen nor a Jew. But if he fall 
back to the benighted condition of a heathen, it is worse 
than folly to talk about converting him again under the 
present system of preaching the gospel by the missionaries 
sent to convert the poor heathen, for they can only tell him 
that he must believe from their word, without giving him 
any example of the power of the Spirit of the true God, for 
they can not; while Jesus and the apostles never asked men 
to believe without giving them miraculous illustrations of 
that power to support their teaching. But now "there is no 
more sacrifice for sin,*' the days of miracles are past, they 
are gone forever, and the heathen must perish: for the sin 
of the world was idol-worship, which Christ came to destroy. 
We are the offspring of those Christians who survived 
the second great destruction of the world — the great daj 
of God Almighty; and while you take a retrospective vie^ 
of all things, I hope you will not fail to observe what poor 
progress we have made during this Christian era on our way 
to perfection: and it is because our children — the rising 
generations for the last nineteen centuries, by an improper 
construction of the Scriptures, have been kept back to the 
old principles of the doctrine of Christ, and there has been a 
continual tendency to lay again the foundation of repent- 
ance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doc- 
trines of baptism, and of laying on of hands, and of resur> 



Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 557 

rection of the dead, and of eternal judgment; which we are 
commanded not to do, in the sixth chapter of Hebrews. 

But now that we have taken a kind of synoptical view 
of the past, and come np to the present period of this third 
world, which is to be one eternal * Vorld without end," I ask 
that you pause again and think carefully over the revela- 
tions of God through His prophets, which was shown -to 
Aem by the vision: look about you at all things as they ex- 
ist to-day, and ask yourself if those prophecies have been 
fulfilled. And when you consider thai?, no unbiased think- 
ing mind can conclude otherwise than that a perfect God 
never began a work that He did not nor will not perfect,^ 
and therefore will perfect this earth according to His de- 
signs, and that He swore that the whole elarth should be 
filled with His glory: then turn and look into the future, 
and you will see at a glance that there is yet an immense 
work to do which is to be accomplished by the power of the 
Spirit of God in the hearts of men: and when you think of 
the myriads of years that may be required in the work, for 
get not that it was declared, and reasonably so, "that one 
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day.'' 

And now, before leaving you, I ask that you listen to 
the commands of that God in your own heart^^aild strive to 
obey them; that you will turn away from and cease to listen 
to the precepts of men who claim they are possessed of 
power to teach you your duty to your Creator; curtail the 
desires of your carnal nature with all of its evil passions, 
and bring it in subjection to your intellectual being; pray 
that the Christian nation may soon learn its power, and that 
they will teach the rising generations from infancy that they 



558 Two Thousand Years in Eternity. 

are born children of the living God, and that that Spirit ol 
Truth within them is the God whom they must obey, and 
on whom they must depend through all the troubles and 
dangers of life : for it is in this way, and by this power which 
has been placed in our possession, that we are able to do the 
will of God, and the time be hastenecl when every spot on 
this globe on which we live shall shine as the noonday sun 
with the glory of God. 

The End. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. 

Page 

Introduction 11 

How the Scriptures were read by the Author to 18 

. Old translation the best ' 19 

To obtain definition of words 20 

Why GrOd's operations are retarded under the present system 
of theology 21 

Chapter II. 

Definition of Words and Sentences Used in the Bible 23 

The Bible was not written to support theories of men 24 

Definition of the word "lie" 25 

Definition of the word "earth" 28 

Definition of the word "heaven" 28 

Definition of the word "soul" 30 

Definition of the word "death" . . . . 32 

Definition of the word "forever" 34 

Definition of the word "fire" 38 

Definition of the word "judgment" 41 

Definition of the word "glory" 43 

CMpter III. 

The Beginning of Man 48 

T]volution considered to 51 

Intellectual germ 52 

The command 55 

The two component parts of man 56 

Chapter IV. 
The Three Periods of Man Indicated in the Garden of Eden. ... 59 

The three degrees of man to 60 

Division of the Godhead. 61 

Man can at this age understand God.— All things to be put 

under man 63 to 66 

Object of God's direct operations on earth 68 

The second destruction 70 



560 Contents. 

CMpter Y. 

Pape 

A Review of the First Period of Man 72 

The forbidden fruit, or violation of the first command 73 

Result of the fall of man 74 

Criminal use of the procreative organs, and result.. ..75 to 81 

Instinct — what it is 81 

God's name was to be preserved on the earth 82 to 84 

Noah convinced of the true GrOd 85 

The old and new world — Heathens to be destroyed 85' 

The flood of water was the witness to Noah 85 

CMpter TI. 

The Beginning of the Second Period of Man 90 

God does not tempt man 90 

The bloody destruction 91 

The ground never to be cursed again. — ^No more universal de- 
struction of the world. — The fear of man placed on all 

things.— Bow set as a sign 92" 

The national destruction spoken of by Jeremiah 95 

The new heavens and the new earth — by Peter 96 

Some events of the primary part of this period ftZ 

God does not fail in His designs, though men and nations may 

fail to do their part 99 

The Word first came to Moses at the burning brush 100 

The fiame was the first body of God 100 

Jesus was a more perfect body 10^1 

Review of God's agents and subagents 101 

Moses' manner of understanding God. — How he was used. — The 

first name of the God of Heaven . . 101 

God does not require man to believe His word without evi- 
dence 103 

Moses' wisdom displayed , .. ..104 

Source of all wisdom. — Covenant with Abraham. — Israel's bond- 
age of 400 years foretold. — Review of the covenant as under- 
stood by the apostle Paul. — Fallibility of the apostles..l05 to 106 
A brief review of the covenant 110 



Contents. 561 

Chapter 711. 

Page 
The Second Period or Word Continued. — Israel a National Ex- 
ample to the World 11-1 

Manner in which we should know God. — Moses' introduction. . to 115 
The object of God. — His operations to carry it out. — Sign of the 

covenant 116 

Moses remonstrates with God IIS 

Israel's failure and idolatry. — Arrives at Sinai 119 

Israel introduced to God at Sinai 120 

The Ten Commandments 122 

God will accomplish His objects shown in the first command- 
ment ..123 

Israel destroj^ed himself by his own acts 124 

All promises of God are conditional ■ 125 

The prayer of King Solomon 126 

Christ's declaration. — Proof that the Jews failed 128 

Blood was the second great witness of God 129 

The Temple represented the body of man 130 

The effect of Christ's appearance. — His object 130 to 133 

Saul selected as king of Israel 134 

CMptei' VIII. 

The Jews Blinded and the Book Sealed 137 

Israel failed. — The two golden calves made by Jeroboam at Dan 

and Bethel 13S 

Christ spoken of 140 

God's plans changed 141 

A retrospective view of the garden of Eden. — ^What was seen 

and done there. — The two cherubims ] 42 

The coming of Jesus. — The flaming sword 143 

Blinding of the Jews 143 

God took the work of salvation in His own hands 144 

Understanding of the vision by the apostles 145 

Sealing of the book 147 

Priests responsible for the people's wrongs 147 

Stephen tells of Moses and his purpose. — The idolatry of the 

Jews spoken of in Romans. — Moses speaks of the coming 

of Christ 148 



562 Contents. 

Page 

Lamentation of Jesus over Jerusalem 150 

Isaiah's vision of the blinding of the Jews 151 

John (in Revelation) relative to the blinding of the Jews and 

opening of the book by the doctrine of Christ 153 

The book was opened to Daniel 155 

Vision of the ram and he-goat by Daniel, relative to time of 

Israel's bondage 156 

Destruction or persecution and salvation of God's people. — The 

two cherubims. — The light. — Their testimony. — Death.— 

Resurrection 158 

Chapter IX. 

The Messiah Promised and Attending Prophecy 161 

First mention of the Messiah in the New Testament. — His birth 

and name 162 

The day of salvation 164 

The prophets. — Their manner of understanding and writing.. 166 

God's change of operation 167 

God's omniscience shown bj^ providing for salvation when 

Israel failed.. 167 

Jesus as a continuation of prophecy. — All things soon to come 
to pass. — God's work in opposition to the gods of the earth. .170 

Jews and Gentiles treated alike in Jesus 171 

Israel's unrighteousness. — Idolatry. — The work of God against 

the gods of the earth. — Israe] to be a witness for the true 

God. — Prophecy of Cyrus and the return of the Jews. . . .to 173 

The heathens began to understand that their gods were not 

omnipotent. — Prophecy relative to Cyrus and the building 

of the Temple 174 

Proclamation of Cyras requested by Tatnai and Shethar-boznai 
to know who gave the authority to build the Temple. — It 

was found 175 

The decree of Darius 176 

Idols ridiculed.— God changes His operations 177 

The mission of the Messiah 179 

Cause of His death.— He opposed orthodoxy 180 

The judgment to be executed by the Word of God 181 



Contents. 563 

Chapter X. 

Paeg 
Purpose agaiust the Whole Earth, — Decree of the Second 

Destruction , 184 

The terrible destruction 180 

The language of the prophets the best they could use 188 

Prophecies of the destruction 189 

Vision of Isaiah relative to 189 

The vineyard of God turned out 190 

Assyrians did not believe they would conquer Israel and Judah . , 192 

The theme of all the prophets and Jesus ]93 

The second destruction foretold 195 

The Antichrist foretold to Isaiah 197 

More evidence of the second destruction 198 

Prophecy corresponds with New Testament ..199 

The judgment day 201 

God's judgments 202 

The decree of the days of Ahaz. — What Peter said of it 203 

Chapter XI. 
Prophecy of Jeremiah Relative to the Second Destruction . . . . 200 
Israel and Judah to be cast among the heathens, but brought 

back in seventy years for the promise to David 207 

Prophecy of the first fall of Jerusalem 209 

Prophecy of the second fall of Jerusalem 210 

Yoke of Babylon broken 213 

One man not to dictate to another 214 

Prophecy of destruction of P>abylon . . 215 

The Christian nation never to be destroyed 219 

The time these great events were to be done 220 

Prophecy of Jeremiah read to the Babylonians by Seraiah . , . . 222 

The fall of Babylon illustrated to John 223 

Wickedness of the world to ever recede • 223 

Saints rejoice at the downfall of Babylon. — The strong city, . . .224 

Babylon and Jerusalem were emblems 225 

The last appalling struggle 227 

How the prophets describe the vision 228 

The world called a city 229 

Manner in which the different prophets described the assem- 



564 Contents. 

Page 
bling of the nations to this great contest. — Darkening of the 
sun and moon. — Luke gives evidence that the contest is 
over . .230 to 2.33 

Chapter XII. 
Prophecy by Ezekiel. — The Last Great Slaughter. — The Blood 

That Testified on Earth 235 

Jesus and the apostles referred to prophecy for their knowledge 

of events .. 23G 

Ezekiel speaks of assembling the nations 237 

The true people of God 238 

Manner of assembling the nations to battle 241 

John's description of the preparation for the battle 242 

Suggestions as to the effect of the great earthquake 246 

Ezekiel's prophecy as to the manner of slaughter 248 

Ezekiel's prophecy as to the resurrection 249 

John corroborates Ezekiel 251 

Mysteries explained 253 

Object of the destruction good 254 

Magnitude of the battle. — Great supper of God Almighty 258 

CMpter XIII. 

Prophecy of Daniel 261 

Test of the power and knowledge of the magicians 263 

Nebuchadnezzar's dream 265 

Interpretation 268 

Nebuchadnezzar was convinced 271 

Nebuchadnezzar's second dream 272 

Interpretation 273 

Daniel cast into the lions' den. — The result and effect on King 

Darius 276 

Daniel's vision.. ..278 

Interpretation 280 

Second vision of Daniel of the ram and he-goat 282 

Interpretation and effect 283 

Chapter XIV. 

Prophecy of Daniel- -continued 287 

Computing time for all prophecies to be fulfilled 287 



Contents. 565 

Page 

Daniel prays to know the destiny of his people 289 

Time and explanation given by Gabriel 291 

Further declarations by Gabriel as to the time 298 

Messiah crucified 430 years after the Temple was finished.. ..301 

Chapter XV. 

Prophecy of Daniel — concluded 303 

Work of the Antichrist during the last week of time. — Evi- 
dence. — Paul's quotations 307 

Antichrist enters Jerusalem 312 

Last chapter of Daniel 314 

Quotations from Revelation of the suffering of the saints.. ..317 
Discrepancy as to the time of the time of the reign of Anti- 
christ. — Time shortened. — The last struggle to 320 

Length of time the world was dying 321 

CMpter XVI. 

The Gospel Preached to the Living and the Dead, and Heaven 
also Shaken 324 

Eternal life a reward for obedience to the Spirit of God. — The 
Tree of Life. — Man to be prepared for it. — All men from 
Adam should have a chance to choose life 325 

What was to become of those who died from Adam to Christ. — 
Hell.— The lake of fire.— The second death 326 

Man not ready for the Tree of Life at the flood. — Had yet to be 
improved intellectually 329 

Why the spirits of the dead should be kept waiting. — Heaven 
shaken. — Quotations 331 

The dead (the spirits in prison) were warned. — Christ preached 
to them 335 

Gospel preached to all on the earth. — Every creature. — Evi- 
dence and Quotations 337 

Direct evidence that the gospel was preached to every human 
being on earth 343 

Ready for the sublime.— Intelligent system to be introduced. . . .344 

The earth yet to be purged perhaps often, but the heavens never 
again - ..345 



566 Contents. 

Glmpter XYII. 

Page 
The Second Great Destruction Past. — Miscellaneous Evidence. .349 
Man is to survive all prophecies on earch. — We are to know 

the prophecy is from God by its coming to pass 350 

Object of prophecy 351 

Effect of prophecy not being fulfilled. — Evidence by Daniel and 

John 354 

Paul and others quote the prophets 357 

Paul talks to the Hebrews 360 

Paul quotes from Jeremiah. . 362 

Paul gives the covenant. — Explains Jewish worship 363 

Chapter XYIIT. 

The New Covenant 371 

We cannot judge one another ..372 

The laws in each man's heart differ 373 

If man fall back to heathenism, it is impossible to renew him 

to repentance 374 

Classics, even the Bible, must go 376 

The Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, all 

the same. — They are God 379 

One cannot teach another 380 

The day of salvation 381 

The heart of man 383 

Covenant first confirmed with the elect 385 

Jeremiah's version of the covenant. — Proverb of the sour 

grape 386 

Every man should attend to his own business 387 

Cause of progress retarded. — We go over the first principles 

all the time 389 

Ordinance of baptism is dead 391 

More of the covenant 392 

Old system of worship. — All ordinances to pass away with the 

old covenant 394 

Chapter XIX. 

The New Covenant — continued 399 

Mysteries done away. — All may understand God's operations. — 

The work not complete when the apostles wrote 400 



Contents. 567 

Page 
The survivors of the flood understood God's work and objects.. 410 
Had not all prophecies been fulfilled, the vision and prophecy 
would not have been sealed up. — The Scriptures were in- 
tended for people of very ordinary intellect 404 

Mysteries solved by Christ. — Prophecy began to be fulfilled in 

John the Baptist and his work 405 

The proper manner of knowing God 406 

The admission of the Gentiles was a mystery prior to Christ.. 409 
The Scriptures not the written laws for our government. — The 

law a ministration of condemnation 412 

Separate law for each individual . .413 

Written law not for our government 414 

Use of the Sabbath 417 

Conscience of man 41S 

Example of meat-eating. — Man must not live for himself 
alone to 423 

Cliapte-r XX. 

The New Covenant — concluded 424 

Man should sustain his own opinions. — Peter's dissimulations. .425 

Peter wants converted Gentiles circumcised 428 

The rock on which Christ founded His Church 431 

How mij knowledge of God was obtained. — Not by flesh and 

blood 432 

The heart of man — what it is 435 

How the law was written in men's hearts 437 

The rock on which the Church was founded 438 

The law in each heart different 441 

The new covenant as to youth and childhood 442 

The paternal government. — Childhood. — Youth, — Manhood.. ..444 

Chapter XXI. 

Jesus as a Man , 449 

Composition of Jesus 450 

Temptations of Jesus 452 

Conception. — Philosophic view 456 

Jesus alone could do nothing 458 

To skeptics relative to the conception. — Manner of begetting. .460 



568 Contents. 

Page 

First evidence that He was the Christ 462 

Manner of iinowing He was the Christ 461 

Jesus tries to show the difference between Himself and God 

the Father 466 

Evidence that Jesus was but a man 467 

Jesus seeks the help of God. 468 

Jesus' sufferings were great 463 

Garden of Gethsemane- 471 

Chapter XXII. 

Jesus as the Messiah, and His MiKsion 474 

Christ to point man's intellect to God as the Cause of all 

causes 475 

The Word with open demonstration began v,'ith Moses at the 

burning bush 476 

God is that spiritual power that fills all space 477 

Man is the servant of God, and there must be a system of com- 
munication between the two 477 

Evidence that Jesus was the Christ 479 

Knowledge makes man immortal, — Fear necessary to make him 

learn 481 

Punishment and destruction necessary 482 

Christ the corner-stone of the kingdom . .484 

Description of new world when perfect 486 

Description in Revelation 488 

How Jesus was sacrificed 490 to 500 

Jesus glorified the Father, and He also was to be glorified.. ..493 
The two cherubims 495 

Chapter XXIII. 

God's Elect 507 

Predestination as taught by the churches erroneous. — The 
necessity of providing a lineage by which God's name might 
be retained on earth.— All men had an opportunity to 

choose between good and evil 509 to 511 

Those who believed in Christ in that day were saved 512 

No more necessity for elect 513 

Who the elect are 514 



Conierits, 569 

Page 

Why Abraham was chosen 515 

A nation raised to retain the name of God. — Elect from that 

nation 516 

Judas had not on the wedding garment 518 

Highways were the nations of the whole earth 519 

In day of Elijah there were but 7,000 520 

Paul speaks of elect. — First fruits. — Lazarus the dead man was 

prepared especially to show the power of God 524 

The ignorant were chosen to do the work. 525 

Many were chosen for other special purposes 527 

Cyrus 528 

Zerubbabel 529 

Elect to be sealed. — Three signs given John 532 

Seal — what it is 535 

John's baptism, object of 538 

Scriptures not understood because the teaching is pernicious. .540 

Reward of the 144,000 elect 543 

Work under sound of sixth trumpet 545 

Just that the elect should be saved 546 

Work all done, and we need not the intercession of Christ. . . .548 
One cannot construe the law for another. . 5.53 



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